Bypass sans blood transfusion

COIMBATORE: A 60-year-old man, who was diagnosed with multiple blocks in both his coronary arteries, approached a hospital in Coimbatore stating that he was ready to undergo any treatment provided there was no blood transfusion involved in it. The man, who is a Jehovah's Witness by faith, was hesitant to even have his own blood taken in advance, frozen and re-transfused into him. For followers of Jehovah's Witnesses, transfusion of blood is against their religious belief.

After a lot of analysis, cardiothoracic surgeons at Sri Ramakrishna Hospitals managed to perform a coronary bypass surgery on the man without giving him any blood transfusion, around three weeks back. They bypassed his blocked arteries, with arteries taken from his mammary glands, instead of his vein from his legs, which is a more common procedure. "His condition, which included multiple blocks, did not let us perform a stent angioplasty or a balloon angioplasty," Dr Thiagarajamurthy said.