Blacks less likely to benefit from high-tech treatments for rapid heartbeat
Testing to guide treatment of rapid heart rhythms leads to poorer survival in blacks than in whites, according to research published in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Lead author Andrea M. Russo, M.D., says blacks were much more likely to refuse implantable cardioverter-defibrillators or ICDs when doctors recommended the devices, which may explain some of the survival difference.