Is There an Association Between ABO Blood Group and Microangiopathic Hemolytic Anemia?

Abstract

Background: Several studies have reported the relationship between ABO blood groups and thrombosis and hemorrhagic disorders, most of them showing that non-O blood groups have a high risk for thrombosis and O blood groups have a high risk for hemorrhage. However, there are a few studies about the relationship between the microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) and the ABO blood groups.

Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted in the ICU centers of the Hasheminejhad and the Imam Reza Hospital of the Mashhad University of Medical Science in Mashhad, Iran between May 2011 and December 2012. Patients admitted to the ICU with different etiology showed symptoms and signs of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. There were 80 patients (age: 20 - 70 years) and 100 controls in this study. Controls were selected at random from a laboratory.

Results: In this study, we show that there is a significant difference in all blood groups between patients with microangipatic hemolytic anemia and the control group (P = 0.009), with a significant difference between O and non-O blood groups (P = 0.023).

Conclusions: Previous studies confirm the historical linkage between some vascular disorders and non-O blood group status. In this study we show the significant relationship between microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and non-O blood groups; therefore, we recommended non-O blood group consider as a risk factor for this group of disease.




doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4021/jh108e