Jehovah’s Witness


Better Recovery After Bloodless Heart Surgery

Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo began providing bloodless heart surgery to patients for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses must abstain from blood transfusions, according to their bible. Now, many more people are interested in bloodless surgery because of its many benefits. Without undergoing a blood transfusion during your surgery, you can be protected from many things — resulting in a quicker and easier recovery. No Blood Transfusions = Better Recovery Bloodless surgery not only helps meet the religious needs of Jehovah’s Witnesses but also provides multiple specific health benefits. A Strong Immune System During your recovery after traditional surgery with a blood transfusion, your immune system becomes weak and less reactive, making it harder to fight infections. Bloodless heart surgery keeps your immune system strong during your recovery. No Allergic Reactions Blood transfusions cause serious effects on our body and our immune system. Sometimes the effects can manifest as severe allergic reactions. By avoiding a transfusion, patients also avoid allergic reactions that can slow down recovery and cause other problems in the body. No Inflammatory Response Some patients see an accumulation of inflammatory fluids in various organs (lungs, kidneys, muscles) and soft tissues after a transfusion. This inflammatory response effectively slows down the recovery period after traditional heart surgery. This does not happen with bloodless patients. Avoid Blood-Borne Viruses While this is not much of a concern with modern blood screening methods, some patients feel more comfortable without the need to worry about blood borne viruses, like HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and others. Request A Consultation With Dr. Ciuffo Learn about one of our bloodless heart surgery patients who traveled from Australia to receive this specialty from Dr. Ciuffo....

Jehovah’s Witness Travels Across World For Life-Saving Bloodless Heart Surgery

After being diagnosed with a rare, considered inoperable, tumor in the left ventricle of her heart and given only a few months to live, 26-year old Australian Madalyn Copcutt was not ready to give up on her life. Her tumor was considered inoperable because of her status as a Jehovah’s Witnesses and she would not be able to accept blood transfusions. The newlywed traveled over 11,000 miles to see expert cardiac surgeon, Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo at the Mercy Cardiovascular Institute (MCI) who is the Medical Director of Mercy’s Minimally Invasive and Bloodless Heart Surgery program. Even after all surgeons in Perth concluded that her surgery would not be possible, Dr. Ciuffo performed the bloodless heart surgery on October 31 at Mercy Medical Center and Madalyn was discharged on November 3, with all positive results indicating the tumor removal was successful. Read more about Madalyn’s surgery at the Mercy Medical Center in the Akron Beacon Journal and on Mercy’s own blog. Dr. Ciuffo’s Mission For Bloodless Surgery Dr. Ciuffo has stated that he’s “made it his mission to do bloodless surgery,” citing that his experience shows patients who do not take blood transfusions live longer and do better than traditional heart surgery patients. Dr. Ciuffo’s complex cardiothoracic experience ranges 15 years with operations for over 500 Jehovah’s Witnesses and hundreds of patients from all over the world. Contact Dr. Ciuffo For Bloodless Inquiries If you are a Jehovah’s Witnesses looking for bloodless surgery, or anyone with an interest in the minimally invasive and bloodless techniques Dr. Ciuffo employs, please call his office (330) 363-1341 at or contact him...