Should Jehovah's Witness patients be listed for heart transplantation?

Abstract

This best evidence topic in Cardiac Surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was: for [Jehovah's Witness patients with end-stage heart failure] can these patients undergo a [heart transplantation] without an increased rate of mortality. Altogether, 133 papers were found using the reported search strategy. Of those, 29 papers represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. Five papers focusing on patients of the Jehovah's Witness (JW) faith who had end-stage heart failure were published. Successful heart transplantation was performed in a total of seven patients without mortality, re-exploration or blood transfusion. One patient had left ventricular reduction surgery twice and another patient had bypass surgery several years after transplantation. Other successful organ transplantations were also reported, including lung, liver, kidney and pancreas in both adult and paediatric patients of the JW faith, with comparable mortality and morbidity to non-JW patients. A publication bias is likely; nevertheless, we conclude that although there are no large studies directly focused on heart transplantation in JW patients, a multidisciplinary team approach to such surgery can make it technically feasible and without an increased mortality risk in suitable candidates. Therefore, such patients may be considered for heart transplantation under selected and favourable circumstances. © 2012 The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.