Racial Disparity in Cardiac Decision Making

Abstract

CARDIOVASCULAR disease remains the leading cause of death for African Americans and whites in the United States despite technological advances in its management.¹ For many patients in whom conservative management is unsuccessful, optimal treatment requires use of invasive cardiac procedures: cardiac catheterization, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. While numerous studies, including one conducted at our institution, suggest that African Americans receive fewer of these procedures than their white counterparts,^2-12 the basis for these observed interracial treatment differences is not understood.