Monday, January 16, 2006—Transplanted hearts survive a significantly shorter time in black children than in other racial groups, according to a review of the records of 4227 pediatric heart transplant recipients, 717 (17 percent) of whom were black.
Dr. William T. Mahle and colleagues from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta found that the rate of heart transplants surviving for 5 years was 51 percent for black recipients versus 69 percent for other recipients.
A transplanted heart lasted for an average of 5.3 years in black children compared with 11.0 years in children of other racial groups, Mahle''s team reports in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Additional resources:
Full story
