Racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes after heart transplantation: A systematic review of contributing factors and future directions to close the outcomes gap

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Alanna A. Morris, Emory University; Evan P. Kransdorf, Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute; Bernice L. Coleman, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Monica Colvin, University of Michigan Medical School
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-08-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2016.01.1231
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
• ISSN: 1053-2498
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 8
• Start Page: 953
• End Page: 961
• Grant/Funding Information: B.L.C. is supported by funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), Grant UL1TR000124.; A.A.M is supported by funding from the NIH/NHLBI (K23 HL124287) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program).
• Keywords: health disparities; heart transplantation; race/ethnicity; cardiomyopathy; LVAD; Heart Transplantation; Humans; Continental Population Groups; United States
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

The demographics of patients undergoing heart transplantation in the United States have shifted over the last 10 years, with an increasing number of racial and ethnic minorities undergoing heart transplant. Multiple studies have shown that survival of African American patients after heart transplantation is lower compared with other ethnic groups. We review the data supporting the presence of this outcome disparity and examine the multiple mechanisms that contribute. With an increasingly diverse population in the United States, knowledge of these disparities, their mechanisms, and ways to improve outcomes is essential.