Can Blood Type Determine Risk After Heart Surgery?

	Tweet

A new study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2011 focused on whether blood type affects survival after heart surgery. Researchers from Duke University Medical Center studied more than 15,000 patients to determine if a specific blood type puts patients at a higher risk for death or complications after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

The Duke researchers found that patients with AB blood type were 20 percent less likely to die after CABG surgery than patients with A, B or O blood types. Two proteins in the blood responsible for clotting – the von Willebrand factor (vWF) and Factor VIII (FVIII) –could explain the reduced risk.

The gene that passes on group O confers lower levels of these clotting proteins. Each person has two genes (one from each parent) to determine blood group; all group O patients have two O genes (OO). Some group A and group B patients have one group A or B and one group O gene (AO and BO) and have intermediate levels of clotting proteins. Group AB has no O genes and has the highest levels.

Individuals with type O blood (nearly half of the population) have lower levels of these clotting proteins and may be at greater risk for bleeding and blood transfusions after surgery. Evidence suggests that individuals with type AB blood may be more likely to develop blood clots and/or bleed less after surgery,‖ said lead study author Ian J. Welsby, M.D. ―However, blood clots do not appear to be a problem and bleeding less could contribute to the lower death rate in AB blood type patients since bleeding and blood transfusions put patients at a higher risk for death or complications after surgery.

The study concluded that AB patients are at lowest risk for bleeding and that further research is required to determine the order of risk in other blood types (A, B and O groups).

Researchers hope future studies will help with the ability to predict risk levels for bleeding after cardiac surgery using a simple, cheap blood group test. Researchers also want to determine whether boosting the vWF level in non-AB patients to the level found in AB patients will result in better outcomes after heart surgery.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists
Anesthesiologists: Physicians providing the lifeline of modern medicine. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 45,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.

For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists website at http://www.asahq.org. For patient information, visit LifelinetoModernMedicine.com.

This news release is protected by copyright. American Society

###

Source: American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)

RELATED STORIES:
Scientists turn skin cells into beating heart muscle   Too many people get angioplasties, study suggests   New Blood Thinner May Lower Chances of Clots in High-Risk Heart Patients: FDA   Heart Damage After Chemo Linked to Stress in Cardiac Cells   What’s good or bad for the heart, may be the same for the brain   Warfarin in Heart Failure   Increased Sudden Cardiac Death Rate Among HIV Patients   Air pollution level changes in Beijing linked with biomarkers of cardiovascular disease   Lack of basic evidence hampering prevention of sudden heart attacks in sport   Blacks Less Likely to Get Help on Scene After Cardiac Arrest: Study   Heart attack patients taken to PCI hospitals first treated faster   Cameron Health’s under-skin ICD safe, effective

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]