Black Patients 22% More Likely to Die Following Coronary Bypass Surgery

Black patients are 22% more likely to die than White patients following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, according to a study of more than 1 million patients presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY^® 2024 annual meeting.

To conduct this study, researchers assessed a national inpatient database for patients undergoing CABG in the US from 2016 to 2021. The entire study population consisted of 1,159,040 patients who had CABG during that time, of which 75.6% were white, 7.4% were Hispanic, 6.8% were Black, and 10.2% were other. The researchers noted that compared to White patients, Black and Hispanic patients were on average younger. (77 years of age vs 63 and 64, respectively).  Black and Hispanic patients also were more likely to have heart failure: 10.6% for White patients, 12.2% for Hispanic patients and 15.4% for Black patients.

According to the results, compared to White patients:

• Black patients were 22% more likely to die in the hospital.
• Black patients, on average, stayed in the hospital 1.5 days longer (9.6 days for white patients, 10.7 days for Hispanic patients and 11.8 days for Black patients).
• Black patients had a 23% higher rate of cardiac arrest.
• Total hospital costs were $23,000 higher for Black patients and $78,000 higher for Hispanic patients.

“While advances in cardiovascular medicine, such as minimally invasive cardiac procedures and modern mechanical circulatory support devices, have increased life expectancy, our research suggests Black patients are less likely to have access to them. For example, we found that compared to white patients, a lower proportion of Black patients had bypass surgery when it was indicated,” said Dr. Moreira. “It is imperative that modern policies focus on improving the screening, diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions that disproportionately impact the Black population and other minorities. Although strides have been made in workforce diversity and addressing racial biases in health care technology, the path toward true equity remains long and requires a much more concerted effort.”