Repair of Massive Stanford Type A Aortic Dissection in a Jehovah's Witness Using Bloodless Surgery.
Overview
abstract
Refusal of blood product transfusion presents a unique challenge in patients requiring major cardiac surgery. We present a case of a 45-year-old African American female Jehovah's Witness with a history of aortic dissection who presented to the emergency department with worsening back pain. Imaging revealed aneurysmal dilatation of her known Stanford type A dissection measuring 10.9 cm. A staged carotid-subclavian bypass followed by aortic valve, ascending aorta, and aortic arch replacement with debranching was performed using a bloodless strategy.