ABO Blood Group and Risk of Thromboembolic and Arterial Disease: A Study of 1.5 Million Blood Donors

TY - JOUR

T1 - ABO Blood Group and Risk of Thromboembolic and Arterial Disease

T2 - A Study of 1.5 Million Blood Donors

AU - Vasan, Senthil K

AU - Rostgaard, Klaus

AU - Majeed, Ammar

AU - Ullum, Henrik

AU - Titlestad, Kjell-Einar

AU - Pedersen, Ole Birger Vesterager

AU - Erikstrup, Christian

AU - Nielsen, Kaspar Rene

AU - Melbye, Mads

AU - Nyrén, Olof

AU - Hjalgrim, Henrik

AU - Edgren, Gustaf

N1 - © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

PY - 2016/4/12

Y1 - 2016/4/12

N2 - BACKGROUND: ABO blood groups have been shown to be associated with increased risks of venous thromboembolic and arterial disease. However, the reported magnitude of this association is inconsistent and is based on evidence from small-scale studies.METHODS AND RESULTS: We used the SCANDAT2 (Scandinavian Donations and Transfusions) database of blood donors linked with other nationwide health data registers to investigate the association between ABO blood groups and the incidence of first and recurrent venous thromboembolic and arterial events. Blood donors in Denmark and Sweden between 1987 and 2012 were followed up for diagnosis of thromboembolism and arterial events. Poisson regression models were used to estimate incidence rate ratios as measures of relative risk. A total of 9170 venous and 24 653 arterial events occurred in 1 112 072 individuals during 13.6 million person-years of follow-up. Compared with blood group O, non-O blood groups were associated with higher incidence of both venous and arterial thromboembolic events. The highest rate ratios were observed for pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism (incidence rate ratio, 2.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.79), deep vein thrombosis (incidence rate ratio, 1.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.80-2.05), and pulmonary embolism (incidence rate ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.71-1.88).CONCLUSIONS: In this healthy population of blood donors, non-O blood groups explain >30% of venous thromboembolic events. Although ABO blood groups may potentially be used with available prediction systems for identifying at-risk individuals, its clinical utility requires further comparison with other risk markers.

AB - BACKGROUND: ABO blood groups have been shown to be associated with increased risks of venous thromboembolic and arterial disease. However, the reported magnitude of this association is inconsistent and is based on evidence from small-scale studies.METHODS AND RESULTS: We used the SCANDAT2 (Scandinavian Donations and Transfusions) database of blood donors linked with other nationwide health data registers to investigate the association between ABO blood groups and the incidence of first and recurrent venous thromboembolic and arterial events. Blood donors in Denmark and Sweden between 1987 and 2012 were followed up for diagnosis of thromboembolism and arterial events. Poisson regression models were used to estimate incidence rate ratios as measures of relative risk. A total of 9170 venous and 24 653 arterial events occurred in 1 112 072 individuals during 13.6 million person-years of follow-up. Compared with blood group O, non-O blood groups were associated with higher incidence of both venous and arterial thromboembolic events. The highest rate ratios were observed for pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism (incidence rate ratio, 2.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.79), deep vein thrombosis (incidence rate ratio, 1.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.80-2.05), and pulmonary embolism (incidence rate ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.71-1.88).CONCLUSIONS: In this healthy population of blood donors, non-O blood groups explain >30% of venous thromboembolic events. Although ABO blood groups may potentially be used with available prediction systems for identifying at-risk individuals, its clinical utility requires further comparison with other risk markers.

KW - ABO Blood-Group System

KW - Adult

KW - Arterial Occlusive Diseases

KW - Blood Donors

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Follow-Up Studies

KW - Humans

KW - Incidence

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular

KW - Pulmonary Embolism

KW - Recurrence

KW - Regression Analysis

KW - Risk

KW - Sweden

KW - Thromboembolism

KW - Thrombophilia

KW - Venous Thrombosis

KW - Young Adult

KW - Journal Article

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

U2 - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.017563

DO - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.017563

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26939588

SN - 0009-7322

VL - 133

SP - 1449

EP - 1457

JO - Circulation

JF - Circulation

IS - 15

ER -