ABO blood types and sepsis mortality

 

ABO blood types and sepsis mortality

Theis S. Itenov, Daniel I. Sessler, Ashish K. Khanna, Sisse R. Ostrowski, Pär I. Johansson, Christian Erikstrup, Ole B. Pedersen, Sofie L. Rygård, Lars B. Holst, Morten H. Bestle, Lars Hein, Anne Lindhardt, Hami Tousi, Mads H. Andersen, Thomas Mohr, Jens D. Lundgren

Annals of Intensive Care volume 11, Article number: 61 (2021)

Background

We aimed to determine if the ABO blood types carry different risks of 30-day mortality, acute kidney injury (AKI), and endothelial damage in critically ill patients with sepsis. This was a retrospective cohort study of three independent cohorts of critically ill patients from the United States and Scandinavia consisting of adults with septic shock. We compared the 30-day mortality across the blood types within each cohort and pooled the results in a meta-analysis. We also estimated the incidence of AKI and degree of endothelial damage, as measured by blood concentrations of soluble thrombomodulin and syndecan-1.

Results

We included 12,342 patients with severe sepsis. In a pooled analysis blood type B carried a slightly lower risk of 30-day all-cause mortality compared to non-blood type B (adjusted HR 0.88; 95%-CI 0.79–0.98; p = 0.02). There was no difference in the risk of AKI. Soluble thrombomodulin and syndecan-1 concentrations were lower in patients with blood type B and O compared to blood type A, suggesting less endothelial damage.

Conclusion

Septic patients with blood type B had less endothelial damage, and a small reduction in mortality. The exposure is, however, unmodifiable.