Prevalence of blood type A and risk of vascular complications following transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of blood type A among patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and whether it is related to vascular complications. BACKGROUNDS Vascular complications following TAVI are associated with adverse outcomes. Various blood types, particularly type A, have been shown to be more prevalent in cardiovascular diseases and to be related to prognosis. METHODS The prevalence of various blood types in a cohort of 491 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI was compared with a control group of 6500 consecutive hospitalised patients. The prevalence and predictors of vascular complications and bleeding events were evaluated in the blood type A group and were compared with non-type A patients. RESULTS The mean age of TAVI patients was 83 ± 6 years, and 40 % were males. Patients were divided into two groups: blood type A (n = 220) and non-type A (n = 271). Type A was significantly more prevalent in the TAVI group than in the control group (45 vs. 38 %, p = 0.023). Compared with the non-type A group, patients with blood type A had more major and fatal bleeding (14.5 vs. 8.1 %, p = 0.027) and more vascular complications (any vascular complication: 24.5 vs. 15.9 % p = 0.016; major vascular complications: 12.3 vs. 7 % p = 0.047). In a multivariable analysis, blood type A emerged as a significant and independent predictor for vascular complications and bleeding events. CONCLUSIONS Blood type A is significantly more prevalent in TAVI patients than in the general population and is related to higher rates of vascular and bleeding complications.