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

Based on the clinical case scenario of a 28-year old male Jehovah’s Witness (JW) patient requiring heart transplantation for dilated cardiomyopathy, Elmistekawy and colleagues performed a literature search focusing on the feasability of bloodless heart transplantation in JW patients. Five articles were identified describing successful bloodless heart transplant in 9 JW patients. Unfortunately, no details concerning the practical management in avoiding allogeneic transfusion are provided in the article. Additionally, other successful bloodless organ transplantations (kidney, kidney/pancreas, lung and liver transplants) in JW patients are briefly listed, again without any comment on practical management.

– Oliver Habler