The role of ABO blood type as a risk factor for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with a first unprovoked VTE who complete oral anticoagulation therapy is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if non-OO blood type is a risk factor for recurrent VTE in patients with a first unprovoked VTE who completed 5-7 months of anticoagulant therapy. In an ongoing cohort study of patients with unprovoked VTE who discontinued oral anticoagulation after 5-7 months of therapy, six single nucleotide polymorphisms sites were tested to determine ABO blood type using banked DNA. The main outcome was objectively proven recurrent VTE. Mean follow-up for the cohort was 4.19 years (SD 2.16). During 1,553 patient-years of follow-up, 101 events occurred in 380 non-OO patients (6.5 events per 100 patient years; 95% CI 5.3-7.7) compared to 14 events during 560 patient years of follow-up in 129 OO patients (2.5 per 100 patient years; 95% CI 1.2-3.7), the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.98 (1.2-3.8). In conclusion, non-OO blood type is associated with a statistically significant and clinically relevant increased risk of recurrent VTE following discontinuation of anticoagulant therapy for a first episode of unprovoked VTE.
Keywords: Veins; blood cells; thrombosis.