ABO Blood Group and Coronary Artery Diseases in Iranian Patients Awaiting Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Review of 10,641 Cases

To establish weather the ABO blood group is related to ischemic heart disease in Iranian ethic patients awaiting coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Prospective study of 10,621 patients enlisted for CABG with a known ABO blood group was selected from the Tehran Heart Center cardiovascular databank between December 2001 and February 2008. ABO blood group, gender, and standard cardiovascular risk factors were determined upon entry to the study. Our study group consisted of 71.9% male and 28.1% female patients, with a mean age of 58.98 ± 9.61. Blood group O was the most common in these patients (35%). Furthermore, we found a significant difference between gender and ABO blood group distribution (P=0.074 for O and P=0.031 for A). We also detected that those patients with B blood were less susceptible for hyperlipidemia compared to other blood groups (P=0.024). Our results demonstrated the prevalence of CHD in blood group O is markedly higher than in all other ABO blood groups, which is in contrast with other studies done in Europe and the United States. Variations between distribution of blood groups in various parts of the world may justify the results.