OBJECTIVE: The perioperative blood transfusions have been associated with @entity5 recurrence and decreased survival in various types of @entity5 . There exist, however, contradictory studies showing no relationship between blood transfusions and survival. For @entity1 with @entity418 , only one report suggested that blood transfusions did not by itself decrease the chance of cure after esophagectomy. METHODS: Among 235 @entity1 with primary @entity957 of the thoracic esophagus between December 1979 and March 1998, 143 @entity1 (60.9%) underwent esophagectomy with curative intent (RO). To exclude the effects of surgery-related @entity260 , 14 @entity1 who died within 90 days during the hospital stay were excluded. Thus, clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors were retrospectively investigated between @entity1 with no or few transfusions (< or = 2 units) (n = 58), and much transfused @entity1 (> or = 3 units) (n = 71). RESULTS: Sixty-three @entity1 are alive and free of @entity5 , and 66 @entity1 are dead. A total of 98 @entity1 (76%) received blood transfusions, whereas 31 @entity1 (24%) had no transfusion. The amount of blood transfused was 1 or 2 units in 27 @entity1 (27.6%), 3 or 4 units in 33 (33.7%), 5 or 6 units in 20 (20.4%), and > or = 7 units in 18 (18.4%). The 5-yr survival rate for @entity1 with no or few transfusions was 69%, whereas that for much transfused @entity1 was 31.7% (p < 0.0001). The much transfused @entity1 had more prominent @entity5 , longer time of operation, more estimated @entity190 , and more marked @entity3120 than the group with no or few transfusions. The factors influencing survival rate were @entity5 location, Borrmann classification, size of @entity5 , depth of invasion, number of lymph node metastases, time of operation, amount of blood transfusions, lymph vessel invasion, and @entity3120 . Among those nine significant variables verified by univariate analysis, independent prognostic factors for survival determined by multivariate analysis were number of lymph node @entity3 (0 or 1 vs > or = 2, p < 0.0001), amount of blood transfusions (< or = 2 units vs > or = 3 units, p < 0.0001), and @entity3120 (marked vs non-marked, p = 0.0207). CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between high amount of blood transfusions and decreased survival for @entity1 with resectable @entity418 . To improve the prognosis, surgeons must be careful to reduce @entity190 during esophagectomy with extensive lymph node dissection and subsequently must minimize blood transfusions.

Prognostic significance of perioperative blood transfusions in resectable XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity3120 :: ('MESH:D009383', 'Disease') :: ['blood vessel invasion'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor', 'ulcerative tumor', 'cancer', 'alimentary tract cancer'] @entity190 :: ('MESH:D006473', 'Disease') :: ['blood loss'] @entity957 :: ('MESH:D002294', 'Disease') :: ['squamous cell carcinoma'] @entity260 :: ('MESH:D011183', 'Disease') :: ['postoperative complications'] @entity418 :: ('MESH:D004938', 'Disease') :: ['esophageal cancer'] @entity3 :: ('MESH:D009362', 'Disease') :: ['metastasis']
@entity418 :: (MESH:D004938,Disease) :: ['thoracic esophageal cancer']
