This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
VAD implantation rates rise in black patients
Implantation of ventricular assist devices rose between 2012 and 2015 in black patients with advanced HF, indicating that racial disparities in VAD treatment may be narrowing, according to new findings.
The researchers used data from the Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) to assess VAD implantations by race/ethnicity between 2012 and 2015. The cohort consisted of 10,795 patients (67.4% white, 24.8% black, 6.3% Hispanic, 1.5% Asian) who had a VAD implantation during the study period.
During the study period, the census-adjusted annual rate of VAD implantation increased by 0.26 per 100,000 among black patients (95% CI, 0.17-0.34), Khadijah Breathett, MD, MS, from the division of cardiovascular medicine, Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona College of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.
There were no significant changes during the study period for white patients (0.06 per 100,000; 95% CI, –0.03 to 0.14), Hispanic patients (0.04 per 100,000; 95% CI, –0.05 to 0.12) or Asian patients (0.04 per 100,000; 95% CI, –0.04 to 0.13), according to the researchers.
The census-adjusted annual rate of VAD implantation increased in black men and women (P < .05 for both), but was more pronounced in men (0.37 per 100,000; 95% CI, 0.28-0.46 vs. 0.16 per 100,000; 95% CI, 0.07-0.25; P for interaction < .004), Breathett and colleagues wrote.
When each race/ethnicity group was stratified by age, the most significant increases in VAD implantation rates were in black patients aged 40 to 69 years and in Asian patients aged 50 to 59 years (P < .05 for both; P for interaction by age for black patients < .01; P for interaction by age for Asian patients = .02), according to the researchers.
“This suggests that racial disparities may be declining among African-Americans, but further investigation is needed to reduce racial/ethnic disparities observed by sex and age,” Breathett and colleagues wrote. – by Erik Swain
Disclosure: One author reports he has consulted for Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, St. Jude Medical and ZS Pharma.