title: Adverse effect of perioperative blood transfusions on survival after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Experimental and clinical studies have found a relationship between blood transfusion and altered immune function. We estimated the risk of transfusions for shorter survival on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent hepatic resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  The impact of perioperative blood transfusions on 235 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had resections from January 1981 to December 1988 was retrospectively examined. All patients underwent hepatic resection and received no additional chemotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the Cox proportional hazard model, the number of perioperative blood transfusions was found to be a significant prognostic factor for patient outcome (p = 0.03). Overall, patients who received less than 12 transfused units had a significantly better 5-year survival rate than those who received more than 13 transfused units (46.3% vs. 24.5%, p < 0.001). This result was also seen when the patients were subdivided by stage: 5-year survival in the early stage group (57.2% vs. 35.5%, p < 0.01) and in the advanced stage group (30.0% vs. 18.2%, p < 0.05). The number of perioperative blood transfusions also influenced the survival of patients who underwent a curative resection (66.2% vs. 38.5%, p < 0.01), but did not affect the survival of those who received a non-curative resection (7.9% vs. 7.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the number of perioperative blood transfusions is a significant prognostic factor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who undergo hepatic resection.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D065227:Transfusion Reaction