[Cardiac operation in children of Jehovah's Witnesses].
The perioperative courses of 5 open heart operations in children of Jehovah's Witnesses are reviewed. The age of patients ranged from 6 to 13 years old and the body weight, from 21.5 kg to 38.5 kg. All the patients survived and are doing well now. The cardiopulmonary bypasses, primed with lactated Ringer's solution, were performed safely with the use of moderate hypothermia. Hemodilution techniques are the key for the safe exocorporeal circulation and we set the lowest limit of body weight at 20 kg. Postoperative bleeding occurred in one case and was treated by early exploration. All the cases did not receive any blood or blood products during hospitalization. Therefore we can conclude that cardiac operations over 20 kg of body weight can be safely performed without any blood or blood products. With regard to social aspects, especially in case of emergency, we should make the decision regarding transfusion under the guidance proposed by the Japanese Medical Association.