Non-O blood group and outcomes of in vitro fertilization

PURPOSE: Retrospective and cross-sectional studies suggested that non-O bloodgroup may be associated with failures of in vitro fertilization (IVF), but dataremain controversial. The aim of this observational cohort study was toprospectively evaluate the effect of non-O blood type on clinical outcomes ofIVF.METHODS: Women < 40 years who underwent IVF and had ABO blood type recorded aspart of the routine workup were eligible. The primary study outcome was livebirth. Secondary outcomes included spontaneous abortion, positive pregnancy test,and clinical pregnancy.RESULTS: A total of 497 women with a mean age of 34.6 (standard deviation 3.2)years were included. The mean number of embryos transferred was 2.3 (standarddeviation 0.6). The most common ABO blood types were O (n = 213, 42.9%) and A(n = 203, 40.8%), while 63 (12.7%) and 18 (3.6%) women had the B and AB bloodtypes, respectively. Differences in live birth (21.8 vs. 24.3%, odds ratio [OR]1.17; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.76 to 1.78), positive pregnancy test (37.9vs. 36.6%, OR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.38), clinical pregnancy (35.1 vs. 33.8%, OR0.95; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.39), and spontaneous abortion (12.3 vs. 9.2%, OR 0.72;95% CI, 0.41 to 1.29) between women with O and non-O blood type were notstatistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: In a prospective cohort study, we confirmed the lack of asignificant association between non-O blood type and clinical outcomes of IVF.Further studies are needed to clarify whether non-O blood group has anyprognostic relevance in women undergoing IVF.