Abo Blood Groups in Relation to Duodenal Ulcer

Since Aird, Bentall, Mehigan, and Roberts (1954) convincingly demonstrated a high incidence of blood group 0 in duodenal ulcer subjects there have been a number of confirmatory studies carried out in different ethnic groups and populations (McConnell, 1966). Studies have also been undertaken to see if there is an especially strong association between blood group 0 and some particular category of duodenal ulcer patient. Brown, Melrose, and Wallace (1956) found that there was a marked association between blood group 0 and duodenal ulcer subjects requiring surgery, and also an association which fell short of statistical significance in subjects who had suffered perforation or bleeding compared with those in whom duodenal ulcer had been diagnosed by radiology alone. However, Langman and Doll (1965) did not find a high incidence of blood group O in subjects who came to operation in their series of 479 duodenal ulcers but found that the association of blood group 0 with bleeding was very significant. Horwich, Evans, McConnell, and Donohoe (1966) confirmed the association between blood group 0 and bleeding in duodenal ulcer subjects and demonstrated a high incidence of blood group 0 also in subjects who had sustained a serious gastro-duodenal bleed but did not have any radiologically demonstrable gastro-duodenal lesion. In the study of Horwich et al. (1966) 125 subjects with perforated duodenal ulcer were blood grouped and 72 (58-1 %) were found to be of blood group 0 compared with 50-6 % in 549 subjects with duodenal ulcer which had not perforated or bled. Langman, Doll, and Saracci (1967) found 56.8% blood group 0 in a series of 192 patients with perforated duodenal ulcer as compared with 45.5% in duodenal ulcer subjects who had presented with pain or obstruction. ABH SECRETION IN RELATION TO DIJODENAL