Association of ABO blood group with incidence and outcome of acute pulmonary embolism

Objective: Association of ABO blood type with occurrence of pulmonary embolism (PE) has been demonstrated, and association of blood type with disease mortality and morbidity has recently been reported. Presently described was a retrospective study of mortality and morbidity according to blood group. Methods: Blood type and medical data of 230 patients with confirmed PE was abstracted from medical records. Two control groups were used for data analysis; the 1st included blood donors (Control 1), the 2nd included hospital staff born in the same region (Control 2). Results: In PE patients, blood group A was the most common phenotype (46.1%), followed by blood groups O (25.2%), B (20.4%), and AB (8.2%). Among the control groups, no significant difference was found in distribution of A vs non-A (36.4% vs 36.6%, respectively) or O vs non-O (66.6% vs 66.4%, respectively) blood groups. Blood group A was significantly more prevalent than non-A in patients with PE, compared to both control groups (p=0.002 and 0.03, respectively), and blood group O was significantly less prevalent than non-O in patients with PE, compared with both control groups (p=0.009 and 0.04, respectively). No significant difference was found in PE patients regarding in-hospital and midterm (6-36 months follow-up) mortality (p=0.36 and 0.15, respectively) based on blood groups. Conclusion: Blood group A was significantly more common, and blood group 0 significantly less common, in patients with PE. No association was found regarding blood type and in-hospital outcome or midterm mortality.