• Aimee-Louise Chambault, Louise J Brown, Sophie Mellor, and Amer Harky.
• Medical School, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
• Perfusion. 2021 Oct 1; 36 (7): 661-671.

ObjectiveTo review current literature evidence on outcomes of cardiac surgery in Jehovah's Witness patients.MethodsA comprehensive electronic literature search was done from 2010 to 20th August 2020 identifying articles that discussed optimisation/outcomes of cardiac surgery in Jehovah's Witness either as a solo cohort or as comparative to non-Jehovah's Witnesses. No limit was placed on place of publication and the evidence has been summarised in a narrative manner within the manuscript.ResultsThe outcomes of cardiac surgery in Jehovah's Witness patients has been described, and also compared, to non-Witness patients within a number of case reports, case series and comparative cohort studies. Many of these studies note no significant differences between outcomes of the two groups for a number of variables, including mortality. Pre-, intra and post-operative optimisation of the patients by a multidisciplinary team is important to achieve good outcomes.ConclusionThe use of a bloodless protocol for Jehovah's Witnesses does not appear to significantly impact upon clinical outcomes when compared to non-Witness patients, and it has even been suggested that a bloodless approach could provide advantages to all patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Larger cohorts and research across multiple centres into the long term outcomes of these patients is required.

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