Abo blood groups in relation to ischaemic heart disease

Abstract

In an attempt to obtain data on the interplay of genetic and environmental factors in the development of ischaemic heart disease, blood grouping was carried out on 792 patients attending prothrombin clinics throughout the Cape Peninsula. There was an excess proportion of groups A and B and a deficiency of O in the patients when compared with controls. The extent of these deviations was dependent upon the presence or absence of previous myocardial infarction and on the racial origin of the patient. In those races where the prevalence of ischaemic heart disease was high there was no significant deviation, and this was felt to exemplify the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors in the development of ischaemic heart disease. © 1962, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.