title: A pilot study of continuous ambulatory electrocardiography in patients donating blood for autologous use in elective coronary artery bypass grafting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a single autologous blood donation on the presence or absence of myocardial ischemic episodes in patients with coronary artery disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty patients scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass grafting underwent two 24-hour periods of ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring, one before and one after their first autologous blood donation. The presence or absence and the number, duration, and integral area of episodes of ST segment depression for each 24-hour monitoring period were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-two patients had legible electrocardiogram recordings for both monitoring periods. Of these, 36 patients (86%) had at least one episode of ST segment depression during any monitoring period. The number of patients who had at least one episode of ST segment depression before donation was not significantly different from the number of those who had at least one episode after donation (31 and 33 patients, respectively; p = 0.73).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Donating a unit of blood had no demonstrable effect on the presence or absence of myocardial ischemic episodes in this sample of 42 autologous blood donors with coronary artery disease. The results of this study should be validated in further trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radbruch
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Harnischmacher
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ohler
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Buzello
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013997:Time Factors