Blood loss and transfusion requirements in patients implanted with a mechanical circulatory support device undergoing cardiac transplantation

Patients implanted with mechanical circulatory support devices (MCSD’s) are at high risk for post-operative bleeding at cardiac transplantation. However, the magnitude of the risk and transfusion requirements for MCSD patients at the time of transplantation have not been previously reported. The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare the bleeding characteristics and transfusion requirements of 3 sub-groups of cardiac transplant patients: primary ( n = 45), redo ( n = 26), and MCSD ( n = 23) patients.