Black patients twice as likely to suffer stroke, heart failure, death as whites with atrial fibrillation
WEDNESDAY, June 22, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Black Americans with atrial fibrillation are at higher risk than whites for serious cardiovascular complications and death, according to a study published online June 22 in JAMA Cardiology.
The study included 15,080 blacks and whites, average age 54, who were followed for an average of 21 years.
During that time, 2,348 cases of atrial fibrillation were identified. Blacks with atrial fibrillation had up to two times greater risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and all-cause mortality than whites with atrial fibrillation.
“We knew blacks were likely to have an increased risk of stroke, but the findings for heart failure, coronary heart disease, and mortality are novel and important,” lead author Jared Magnani, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Institute, said in a university news release. “There needs to be further investigation. It’s going to be important to dissect the mechanisms behind why blacks with atrial fibrillation are highly more likely to have adverse outcomes than whites.”
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