ABO blood types and major outcomes in patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure: A multicenter retrospective cohort study

Introduction ABO blood type A was reported to correlate with an increased risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in white patients with severe sepsis and major trauma compared with patients with other blood types. Information regarding ABO phenotypes and major outcomes in patients with ARDS is unavailable. The primary aim was to determine the relationship between ABO blood type A and intensive care unit (ICU) mortality in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). The secondary aim was to describe the association between ABO blood type A and ICU length of stay (LOS) in this study population. Methods In a multicenter, retrospective cohort study, we collected the clinical records of patients admitted from January 2012 to December 2014 in five ICUs of Northern Italy. We included adult white patients admitted to the ICU who were diagnosed with AHRF requiring mechanical ventilation. Results The electronic records of 1732 patients with AHRF were reviewed. The proportion of patients with ABO blood type A versus other blood types was 39.9% versus 60.1%. ICU mortality (25%) and ICU LOS (median [interquartile range], 5 [2–12] days) were not different when stratified by ABO blood type (ICU mortality, overall p value = 0.905; ICU LOS, overall p value = 0.609). SAPSII was a positive predictor of ICU mortality (odds ration [OR], 32.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 18.80–57.24; p < 0.001) and ICU LOS (β coefficient, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.35–0.75; p < 0.001) at multivariate analyses, whereas ABO blood type did not predict ICU outcome when forced into the model. Conclusion ABO blood type did not correlate with ICU mortality and ICU LOS in adult patients with AHRF who were mechanically ventilated.