Correlation of ABO Blood Type with Survival in Critically Ill COVID19 Patients Requiring ICU Level of Care

Abstract

RATIONALE: Severity of some infections has been correlated to ABO blood type. We sought to determine if ABO blood type correlated with outcome or other measures of disease severity in critically ill patients with COVID-19 requiring ICU level of care. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, dual-hospital, single-institution cohort analysis of adult patients (>18 yo) with confirmed diagnosed SARS-CoV-19 infection admitted to our medical intensive care unit between 3/11/2020 and 8/19/2020. The primary outcome of our study was in-hospital mortality when comparing various blood types;A-, A+, B-, B+, O-, O+, AB+, AB-. Secondary outcomes were ICU length of stay, need for mechanical ventilation (MV), and oxygenation requirement at discharge. RESULTS: Of the total 270 patients 48 were excluded for absence of blood type data and 11 were excluded due to Covid-19 being incidental to another major medical condition. Blood type distribution and outcome among the 211 patients with COVID-19 admitted to our ICU are given in the table: Statistical analysis using chi square for categories with a substantial number of cases (A+, B+, O+) analyzed for death, MV, or discharge need for O2 revealed no significant differences (p=0.11). Similarly, the ICU length of stay (LOS) was not significantly different among groups. CONCLUSION: Unlike some recent literature has suggested, in our population, blood type did not correlate with death or markers of disease severity in patients with COVID-19 that required ICU level of care.