The Correlation Between Knee Osteoarthritis and the ABO Blood Group System in A Turkish Population

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine the validity of the relationship between primary knee osteoarthritis and the ABO blood group system in the Turkish population and whether ABO group system could be a risk factor for early-onset knee osteoarthritis or revision surgery.

Material and Methods: A retrospective examination of the data of 2752 patients who underwent knee arthroplasty surgery in our clinic between 2011 and 2019 was carried out. A total of 2436 primary knee osteoarthritis (PKO) patients underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery and 206 patients underwent revision knee arthroplasty (RKA). A control group was formed of 22350 individuals aged >40 years from the same geographical region. The frequency of the ABO subgroups (A, B, O, AB) was compared between the primary knee osteoarthritis group and the control group. In addition, ABO subgroups (A, B, O, AB) were determined in the group of patients aged <65 with knee osteoarthritis (early-onset knee osteoarthritis) or revision group.

Results: In the PKO group, the female to male ratio was 8:1, and the mean age was 67.2 +/- 8 years. The most significant relationship between blood groups and osteoarthritis was found in Group A (p=0.001). Group AB had a significant but low relationship (p=0.002). However, no statistically significant difference was found between age <65 years and >65 years of age (p=0.642). In comparison with the PKO group and RKA, Group A in the revision group was seen at a statistically significantly higher rate (p=0.043).

Discussion: Group A blood group was found to be associated with both primary knee osteoarthritis and revision knee arthroplasty.