Endovascular stent grafting for thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses: report of three cases.

There are few published reports on endovascular stent grafting for thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses. Between 2001 and 2003, we performed endovascular stent grafting for a thoracic aneurysm in three patients of the Jehovah's Witness faith. Two patients had a thoracic aortic aneurysm and one had a chronic type-B dissection. The stent graft was constructed from a self-expanding Z-stent and thin-walled woven polyester fabric. None of the patients required perioperative blood transfusion, there was no postoperative endoleak, and all recovered uneventfully and were discharged from hospital. Thus, stent-graft repair of thoracic aneurysms in Jehovah's Witnesses is feasible and can be achieved without the need for blood transfusion.