AB0 and Rh Blood Groups as a Predictors of Infarct Etiology in Ischemic Stroke: Insights from a Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Objective AB0 blood group antigens has shown to be linked with coagulopathy. In this context, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between AB0 and Rhesus (Rh) blood groups with ischemic stroke on the basis of infarct etiology and trial of ORG 10172 in acute stroke treatment (TOAST) classification. Methods The population of this retrospective case-control study was consisted of 264 patients with ischemic stroke between January 2021 and December 2023. Patients’ stroke etiologies based on TOAST classification, serum biochemical data, brain and neck computed tomography angiograms, AB0 and Rh blood groups were obtained from their electronic medical records. Results We compared large vessel atherosclerosis (LVA) with all other etiologies in the TOAST classification. AB blood type was observed more frequently in patients with LVA than all other AB0 blood types combined (p = 0.049). Conclusions We observed stroke due to LVA more frequently in patients of advanced age and AB blood type compared to other patients. Our findings suggest that AB blood type may also be a risk factor in addition to known stroke risk factors.