Abstract Number: PB1313
Meeting: ISTH 2020 Congress
Background: The incidence of thrombosis peaks in the neonatal period because of the developing coagulation system, comorbidities and use of venous and arterial catheters. Additional risk factors studied to date include sepsis, surgery, elevated hematocrit and inherited thrombophilia. Non-O blood group is associated with increased risk of thrombosis in adults and in pediatric leukemia patients. To date, the association between blood group and thrombosis has not been explored in the neonatal population.
Aims: To evaluate the association of blood group with incidence of thrombosis in neonates.
Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study using the Canadian Neonatal Network database. Patients diagnosed with thrombosis between January 1, 2014 and September 30, 2018 were included in the study. Health records were reviewed to extract demographic variables, blood group, thrombosis details and risk factors.
Results: There were 4860 neonatal intensive care admissions during the study period. Of these, 190 developed thrombosis (arterial 23, venous 155, mixed 11, unspecified 1) giving an incidence of 39 per 1000 admissions. Among 190 admissions with thrombosis, 88 (46%) had non-O blood group (A – 63, B – 19, AB – 6), 98 (52%) had O blood group and 4 (2%) didn’t have blood group data available (Table 1). Surprisingly, non-O blood group patients had a lower risk of developing thrombosis than patients with O blood group (odds ratio 0.7; confidence interval 0.52-0.93; p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The incidence of thrombosis was much higher in our study than previously reported. However, previous epidemiologic studies are approximately 20 years old and neonatal care has changed significantly with more survivors who have a higher incidence of co-morbidities. Second, non-O blood group was associated with a lower risk of developing thrombosis in our study population. Further studies are required to replicate these findings.
| Blood Group | Admissions with thrombosis, n (%) | Admissions without thrombosis, n (%) | All admissions, n (%) |
| A | 63 (33) | 1522 (33) | 1585 (33) |
| B | 19 (10) | 576 (12) | 595 (12) |
| AB | 6 (3) | 184 (4) | 190 (4) |
| Total non-O Blood Group | 98 (52) | 2282 (49) | 2370 (49) |
| O Blood Group | 88 (46) | 1769 (38) | 1867 (38) |
| Blood group unavailable | 4 (2) | 619 (13) | 623 (13) |
| Total admissions | 190 (100) | 4670 (100) | 4860 (100) |
[Distribution of blood group in admissions with and without thrombosis]
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Bhatia K, Solanki S, Paes B, Chan AK, Bhatt MD. Impact of Blood Group on the Incidence of Thrombosis in Neonates [abstract]. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2020; 4 (Suppl 1). https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/impact-of-blood-group-on-the-incidence-of-thrombosis-in-neonates/. Accessed September 29, 2023.« Back to ISTH 2020 Congress
ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/impact-of-blood-group-on-the-incidence-of-thrombosis-in-neonates/