title: ABO blood groups and achilles tendon rupture in the Grampian Region of Scotland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test whether the association between blood groups and Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) reported in some Scandinavian countries and in Hungary was present in our region.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 78 patients treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1990 to 1996, and compared their distribution of ABO blood groups with that found in 24.501 blood donors typed at the Blood Transfusion Centre during the same period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 47 of 78 (60%) of patients with an Achilles tendon rupture belonged to blood group O, compared with 51% of the population as a whole. Only 22 (28%) of the Achilles tendon rupture patients belonged to blood group A, whereas 35% of the general population were members of this group (NS). The A/O ratio was 0.47 for the tendon rupture patients, compared with 0.68 for the general population (NS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We could not demonstrate any significant association between the proportions of ABO blood groups and ATR in the Grampian Region of Scotland. The findings in other studies could be due to peculiarities in the distribution of the ABO groups in genetically segregated populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Aberdeen Medical School, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maffulli
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reaper
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Waterston
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahya
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000097:blood*; D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000293:injuries*; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D006801:Humans; D012421:Rupture / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System