Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of the National Medical Association logoLink to Journal of the National Medical Association
. 2000 Jul;92(7):327–333.

The paradox of coronary heart disease in African-American women.

T L Bransford 1, E Ofili 1
PMCID: PMC2608581  PMID: 10946528

Abstract

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women. Much has been written on the ill effects of this disease in the general population; however, its ramifications in African-American women have been overlooked. Without a doubt, this group has a higher mortality and morbidity than African-American men and white women below the age of 55. Despite the lower angiographic prevalence of disease, when symptomatic coronary heart disease develops, the outlook is dismal. Today's research must concentrate on the ramifications of coronary heart disease in this population to improve the health standard of the general populace.

Full text

PDF
333

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alkeylani A., Miller D. D., Shaw L. J., Travin M. I., Stratmann H. G., Jenkins R., Heller G. V. Influence of race on the prediction of cardiac events with stress technetium-99m sestamibi tomographic imaging in patients with stable angina pectoris. Am J Cardiol. 1998 Feb 1;81(3):293–297. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9149(97)00896-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Clark L. T., Bellam S. V., Shah A. H., Feldman J. G. Analysis of prehospital delay among inner-city patients with symptoms of myocardial infarction: implications for therapeutic intervention. J Natl Med Assoc. 1992 Nov;84(11):931–937. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cooper R. S., Ghali J. K. Coronary heart disease: black-white differences. Cardiovasc Clin. 1991;21(3):205–225. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cowley M. J., Mullin S. M., Kelsey S. F., Kent K. M., Gruentzig A. R., Detre K. M., Passamani E. R. Sex differences in early and long-term results of coronary angioplasty in the NHLBI PTCA Registry. Circulation. 1985 Jan;71(1):90–97. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.71.1.90. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gillum R. F. Coronary heart disease in black populations. I. Mortality and morbidity. Am Heart J. 1982 Oct;104(4 Pt 1):839–851. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(82)90021-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gillum R. F., Gillum B. S., Francis C. K. Coronary revascularization and cardiac catheterization in the United States: trends in racial differences. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1997 Jun;29(7):1557–1562. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(97)00089-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gillum R. F. Sudden cardiac death in Hispanic Americans and African Americans. Am J Public Health. 1997 Sep;87(9):1461–1466. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.9.1461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gray R. J., Nessim S., Khan S. S., Denton T., Matloff J. M. Adverse 5-year outcome after coronary artery bypass surgery in blacks. Arch Intern Med. 1996 Apr 8;156(7):769–773. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hagstrom R. M., Federspiel C. F., Ho Y. C. Incidence of myocardial infarction and sudden death from coronary heart disease in Nashville, Tennessee. Circulation. 1971 Nov;44(5):884–890. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.44.5.884. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Harris D. R., Andrews R., Elixhauser A. Racial and gender differences in use of procedures for black and white hospitalized adults. Ethn Dis. 1997 Spring-Summer;7(2):91–105. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Houghton J. L., Smith V. E., Strogatz D. S., Henches N. L., Breisblatt W. M., Carr A. A. Effect of African-American race and hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy on coronary vascular reactivity and endothelial function. Hypertension. 1997 Mar;29(3):706–714. doi: 10.1161/01.hyp.29.3.706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Johnson J. L., Heineman E. F., Heiss G., Hames C. G., Tyroler H. A. Cardiovascular disease risk factors and mortality among black women and white women aged 40-64 years in Evans County, Georgia. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 Feb;123(2):209–220. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Johnson P. A., Lee T. H., Cook E. F., Rouan G. W., Goldman L. Effect of race on the presentation and management of patients with acute chest pain. Ann Intern Med. 1993 Apr 15;118(8):593–601. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-118-8-199304150-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Keil J. E., Saunders D. E., Jr, Lackland D. T., Weinrich M. C., Hudson M. B., Gastright J. A., Baroody N. B., O'Bryan E. C., Jr, Zmyslinski R. W. Acute myocardial infarction: period prevalence, case fatality, and comparison of black and white cases in urban and rural areas of South Carolina. Am Heart J. 1985 Apr;109(4):776–784. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(85)90638-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Keil J. E., Sutherland S. E., Knapp R. G., Lackland D. T., Gazes P. C., Tyroler H. A. Mortality rates and risk factors for coronary disease in black as compared with white men and women. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jul 8;329(2):73–78. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199307083290201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kelsey S. F., James M., Holubkov A. L., Holubkov R., Cowley M. J., Detre K. M. Results of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in women. 1985-1986 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Coronary Angioplasty Registry. Circulation. 1993 Mar;87(3):720–727. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.87.3.720. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Marwick T. H., Anderson T., Williams M. J., Haluska B., Melin J. A., Pashkow F., Thomas J. D. Exercise echocardiography is an accurate and cost-efficient technique for detection of coronary artery disease in women. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1995 Aug;26(2):335–341. doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(95)80004-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Maynard C., Fisher L. D., Passamani E. R., Pullum T. Blacks in the Coronary Artery Surgery Study: risk factors and coronary artery disease. Circulation. 1986 Jul;74(1):64–71. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.74.1.64. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Peniston R. L., Miles N., Lowery R. C., Jr, Kirkland L., Landes F. S., Warner O. G., Simmons R. L., Janani J., Fletcher J. W., Curry C. L. Coronary artery bypass grafting in a predominately black group of patients. J Natl Med Assoc. 1987 Jun;79(6):593–599. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Peterson E. D., Shaw L. K., DeLong E. R., Pryor D. B., Califf R. M., Mark D. B. Racial variation in the use of coronary-revascularization procedures. Are the differences real? Do they matter? N Engl J Med. 1997 Feb 13;336(7):480–486. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199702133360706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Potts J. L. Diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in the management of coronary artery disease in African Americans. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 1997 Aug;8(3):285–291. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2010.0574. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rautaharju P. M., LaCroix A. Z., Savage D. D., Haynes S. G., Madans J. H., Wolf H. K., Hadden W., Keller J., Cornoni-Huntley J. Electrocardiographic estimate of left ventricular mass versus radiographic cardiac size and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in the epidemiologic follow-up study of the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Cardiol. 1988 Jul 1;62(1):59–66. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(88)91365-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Roig E., Castaner A., Simmons B., Patel R., Ford E., Cooper R. In-hospital mortality rates from acute myocardial infarction by race in U.S. hospitals: findings from the National Hospital Discharge Survey. Circulation. 1987 Aug;76(2):280–288. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.76.2.280. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. SMITH T. M. Coronary atherosclerosis in the Negro; an analysis of 155 cases. J Natl Med Assoc. 1946 Nov;38(6):193–202. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Sawada S. G., Ryan T., Fineberg N. S., Armstrong W. F., Judson W. E., McHenry P. L., Feigenbaum H. Exercise echocardiographic detection of coronary artery disease in women. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1989 Nov 15;14(6):1440–1447. doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(89)90378-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Schulman K. A., Berlin J. A., Harless W., Kerner J. F., Sistrunk S., Gersh B. J., Dubé R., Taleghani C. K., Burke J. E., Williams S. The effect of race and sex on physicians' recommendations for cardiac catheterization. N Engl J Med. 1999 Feb 25;340(8):618–626. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199902253400806. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Scott N. A., Kelsey S. F., Detre K., Cowley M., King S. B., 3rd Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in African-American patients (the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 1985-1986 Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty Registry). Am J Cardiol. 1994 Jun 15;73(16):1141–1146. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(94)90171-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Sempos C. T., Bild D. E., Manolio T. A. Overview of the Jackson Heart Study: a study of cardiovascular diseases in African American men and women. Am J Med Sci. 1999 Mar;317(3):142–146. doi: 10.1097/00000441-199903000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Shaw L. J., Miller D. D., Romeis J. C., Younis L. T., Gillespie K. N., Kimmey J. R., Chaitman B. R. Prognostic value of noninvasive risk stratification in younger and older patients referred for evaluation of suspected coronary artery disease. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996 Oct;44(10):1190–1197. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01368.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Smith S. C., Jr AHA president's letter. Circulation. 1995 Jul 1;92(1):1–1. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Thomas J., Thomas D. J., Pearson T., Klag M., Mead L. Cardiovascular disease in African American and white physicians: the Meharry Cohort and Meharry-Hopkins Cohort Studies. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 1997 Aug;8(3):270–284. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2010.0526. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Tofler G. H., Stone P. H., Muller J. E., Willich S. N., Davis V. G., Poole W. K., Strauss H. W., Willerson J. T., Jaffe A. S., Robertson T. Effects of gender and race on prognosis after myocardial infarction: adverse prognosis for women, particularly black women. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1987 Mar;9(3):473–482. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(87)80038-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the National Medical Association are provided here courtesy of National Medical Association

RESOURCES