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Hispanics, Latinos show high rates of unrecognized cardiac dysfunction
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Hispanics and Latinos have high rates of cardiac dysfunction, a precursor for HF, but in most cases it is subclinical and the individual is not aware, according to new data.
“The perception has been that Hispanics/Latinos are a low-risk group for cardiac dysfunction, but that is not true,” Carlos J. Rodriguez, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a press release.
Rodriguez and colleagues analyzed 1,818 participants from the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos (mean age, 56 years; 42.6% men) who underwent echocardiography to determine left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) or LV diastolic dysfunction (LVDD).
Participants self-reported whether they had been diagnosed with HF, and those with LVSD or LVDD but not HF were defined as having subclinical or unrecognized cardiac dysfunction.
In the cohort, the prevalence of cardiac dysfunction was 49.7%, with 3.6% having LVSD, 50.3% having LVDD, and some participants having both, according to the researchers.
Those with LVSD were more likely to be men and smokers, whereas those with LVDD were more likely to be women and have hypertension, diabetes, higher BMI and renal dysfunction (P < .05 for all comparisons), Rodriguez and colleagues wrote.
After adjustment for age and sex, LVDD was twofold more likely in those of Central American and Cuban backgrounds vs. Mexican backgrounds, they found.
The prevalence of HF with LVSD, or HF with reduced ejection fraction, was 7.3%, whereas the prevalence of HF with LVDD, or HF with preserved ejection fraction, was 3.6%, according to the researchers.
However, of those with cardiac dysfunction, 96.1% had a subclinical or unrecognized case, they found.
CHD was the only independent predictor of subclinical or unrecognized cardiac dysfunction (OR for comparison with clinical cardiac dysfunction = 0.1; 95% CI, 0.1-0.4), Rodriguez and colleagues wrote.
Rodriguez said in the release that clinicians should closely monitor the health of their Hispanic and Latino patients and set a “low threshold for identifying preventative therapies to avoid the possibility of [HF] down the road.” – by Erik Swain
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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