A meta-analysis of 10 studies suggests that receipt of a blood transfusion among patients with myocardial infarction was associated with increased all-cause mortality compared with not receiving a blood transfusion during heart attack.
Researchers said the therapeutic measures including anti-coagulation and anti-platelet drugs have "revolutionised" the approach to acute coronary syndrome and improved clinical outcomes.
However, some of these therapies may also increase the risk for bleeding, which can lead to patients developing anaemia during their hospital stay and requiring blood transfusion, according to report published by Archives of Internal Medicine.
Saurav Chatterjee from the Brown University and colleagues conducted a review of studies published between January 1966 and March 2012.
Ten studies, including 203,665 participants, were selected for analysis. Only one study was a randomised trial, while the others were observational studies.
"Analyses of blood transfusion in myocardial infarction revealed increased all-cause mortality associated with a strategy of blood transfusion vs no blood transfusion during myocardial infarction (18.2 per cent vs 10.2 per cent), with a weighted absolute risk increase of 12 per cent," researchers said.
Also Read
Researchers said that "the statistical analyses suggest that blood transfusion was associated with a higher risk for mortality independent of baseline hemoglobin level, nadir hemoglobin level and change in hemoglobin level during the hospital stay".
Blood transfusion also appeared to be associated with a higher risk for subsequent myocardial infarction (risk ratio, 2.04), according to the study results.
"In conclusion, this meta-analysis provides evidence that rates of all-cause mortality and subsequent myocardial infarction are significantly higher in patients with acute myocardial infarction receiving blood transfusion.
"Additional outcomes data are needed from randomised clinical trials that investigate important outcomes with adequate sample size and with low risk for bias," researchers added.