An international clinical trial led by physician Jeffrey L. Carson, Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, found that a liberal blood transfusion given to patients who have had a heart attack and have anemia may reduce the risk of a reoccurrence and improve survival rates.
The results of the trial, Myocardium Infarction and Transfusion (MINT), were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Maria Mori Brooks, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, co-first authored the study. “Transfusion threshold trials are important to help physicians inform decisions that provide the most benefit for their patients,” said Carson. “The goal of the MINT trial was to establish evidence that can be used to set transfusion standards for patients who have had a heart attack, to improve their rate of survival and reduce the risk of additional heart attacks.” To read the full story.