Significance of allogenic blood transfusion on decreased survival in patients with esophageal carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
To the authors' knowledge, the significance of allogenic blood transfusion in the prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma remains controversial. The objective of the current study was to elucidate the correlation, if any, between intraoperative allogenic blood transfusion and prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma.


METHODS
Two hundred fifty-nine patients with esophageal carcinoma who had undergone esophagectomy and reconstruction were studied. The clinicopathologic data and survival were compared between the 87 patients (33.6%) who received an intraoperative allogenic blood transfusion and the 172 patients (66.4%) who did not.


RESULTS
Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the factors that appeared to independently determine prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma were the depth of the tumor (P = 0.0001), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.0001), lymphatic invasion (P = 0.0002), venous invasion (P = 0.0008), and the occurrence of postoperative complications (P = 0.034). Intraoperative allogenic blood transfusion was not found to be an independent prognostic indicator.


CONCLUSIONS
In the current study, an advanced stage of disease at the time of surgery, which resulted in the need for blood transfusion and the occurrence of postoperative complications, appeared to worsen the prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma.
Nozoe
T
T
Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi Ward, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan. nozoet@surg2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Miyazaki
M
M
Saeki
H
H
Ohga
T
T
Sugimachi
K
K
D000368:Aged; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D016019:Survival Analysis