Association of ABO blood group type with cardiovascular events in COVID-19

Cardiovascular complications have been reported in patients with COVID-19. We sought to examine the association of ABO blood group type with cardiovascular complications in COVID-19. We examined 409 individuals enrolled in the COVID-19 Registry to Assess Frequency, Management, and Outcomes of Arterial and Venous Thromboembolic Complications (CORONA-VTE) who had ABO blood group data available. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association of ABO blood group types with three primary outcomes: major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), major arterial and venous thrombosis and all-cause mortality. 201, 121, 61 and 26 individuals had blood group O, A, B and AB, respectively. In multivariable analysis, blood group A was associated with a 2.5-fold higher odds of MACE than blood group O (OR 2.47[1.18–5.18]). There was an effect suggesting a 2-fold higher odds of major thrombotic events in blood group A vs. O that did not reach statistical significance (OR 2.15 [0.89–5.20]). No association between blood group type and all-cause mortality was found. Compared with the other blood group types, blood group A was associated with an increased odds of MACE(OR(A/non−A) 2.18[1.11–4.29]), while blood group O was associated with lower odds of MACE(OR(O/non−O) 0.50[0.26–0.97]). In conclusion, blood group A was associated with an increased odds of MACE, whereas blood group O was associated with a reduction in the odds of MACE in patients with COVID-19. These findings may inform risk stratification of COVID-19 patients for cardiovascular complications. Additional studies are needed to validate our findings. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11239-020-02364-5.