ABO Blood Groups and Achilles Tendon Injury

The incidence of Achilles tendon rupture has significantly increased over the last 20 years (Moller, 1996; Young and Maffulli, 2007), achieving, within the tendon diseases, an incidence between 6 and 18% (Rees et al., 2006; Mazzone and McCue, 2002; Shepsis et al., 2002). The risk of the Achilles tendon rupture is greater in the male population with a ratio included between 1.7 : 1 and 30 : 1. This data would be justified by the high prevalence of males subjects in sports considered at risk (Rees et al., 2006; Mazzone and McCue). Despite its high incidence in the context of sports traumatology, the Achilles tendon rupture etiology remains poorly known (Maffulli, 1999; Williams, 1986) and it is essentially based on two main theories: the “degenerative theory” and the “mechanical theory”.