American medical scientists from Rutgers University in New Jersey found that transfusing large amounts of blood to patients with anemia during a heart attack reduces the risk of another attack and improves survival. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Experts compared the effectiveness of two major blood transfusion strategies for more than 3,500 people with anemia at 144 hospitals in six countries. Half of these patients received slightly more donated blood after the heart attack, while the other half did not receive a blood transfusion unless their hemoglobin levels fell below eight grams per deciliter (g/dL).
Researchers evaluated the risk of recurrent heart attack and death among these groups 30 days after the start of the study. It turns out that generous blood transfusions help reduce the risk of disease recurrence and increase survival by 2.4% compared to limited blood donations.
The research team emphasized that more clinical trials, meta-analyses of studies, and additional data analysis are critical to provide doctors with the best evidence when evaluating when to transfuse heart attack patients with anemia.
Previous scientists in the name Danger of blood transfusion to the brain.