Blood Transfusion Reduces Mortality in Elderly Heart Patients

A study has found that a low hematocrit in hospitalized, elderly heart attack patients is linked to higher mortality rates, but these rates can be significantly reduced by blood transfusions. The study, conducted by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, CT, USA), was published in the October 25, 2001, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers reviewed the records of almost 79,000 patients and found that 43.4% of those aged 65 and over who were hospitalized with a heart attack were also anemic or had a blood count below 39% at the time of admission. The 30-day mortality rates were more than doubled in the most severely anemic patients compared to patients who were not anemic. Less than 25% of patients with clinically significant anemia received a blood transfusion. The data showed, however, that those patients who received blood transfusions had a significantly lower risk of short-term mortality.

"For the first time, we have evidence that patients with a specific clinical presentation are affected adversely by the underuse of transfusion,” wrote Drs. Tim Goodnough and Richard Bach of the Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO, USA), in an accompanying editorial. They suggest on the basis of this research, "that hematocrit levels should be maintained above 33% in patients who present with acute myocardial infarction.”




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