Giving more blood to anemic patients after a heart attack may save lives, according to a study by Rutgers University Health.
The study published in NEJM GuidesConfirms research conducted in 2023 indicating that deaths or recurrent heart attacks were more frequent in anemia patients who received smaller amounts of blood.
Jeffrey L. Carson, dean and distinguished professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, led both studies. The 2023 trial — referred to as MINT (Myocardial Infarction and Transfusion) — looked at blood transfusions in patients with anemia after a heart attack.
After the 2023 trial, Carson plans to conduct a study on transfusions that combines data from similar trials to generate more accurate estimates of treatment effects.
In collaboration with researchers in France and the United States, Carson obtained data from four clinical trials that evaluated blood transfusions in 4,311 patients with heart attacks. These trials included patients who had a heart attack and low blood counts. Half of the patients received fewer blood transfusions, while the other half received more blood transfusions. The trials compared recurrence of death after 30 days or recurrent heart attacks and death after six months.
The results of this analysis were recently published in astrologer guides, It has not been conclusively proven that giving fewer blood transfusions increases patients’ risk of death or heart attack in 30 days, but it noted that using fewer transfusions was associated with an increased risk of death at six months.
In the original clinical trial, a large proportion of patients had previously had a heart attack, heart failure, diabetes or kidney disease. The average age of participants was 72 years, 45% of whom were women.
Researchers compared the frequency of the main outcome of death or recurrent heart attacks 30 days after enrollment in the trial. Although this study was not statistically significant, it found that the rate of deaths or recurrent heart attacks was 2.4% lower when the liberal approach was used.
The results of this analysis show that giving more blood to anemic patients having heart attacks can save lives after six months.
Jeffrey L. Carson, Dean and Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University
Both studies were funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
For nearly two decades, Carson has studied the implications of red blood cell transfusion strategies toward providing optimal treatment for patients. His work helped establish the blood transfusion guidelines in 2012 that doctors use to guide patient care, and whose updates were announced last year in the journal Journal of the American Medical Association Emphasizes an individualized approach in adults and children that takes into account patients’ underlying medical problems, preferences and symptoms.
