• Posted September 30, 2024

Black Babies With Heart Abnormalities Face Higher Death Risk

Black American infants born with congenital heart disease are less likely to survive to the age of 1, compared to white babies with the condition, a new study finds.

The research suggests that Black infants aren't reaping the same benefit from recent advances against heart defects, the researchers said.

From 2005 to 2019, “the death rate in white infants decreased significantly but the rate in Black infants did not," said study lead author Dr. Kwadwo Danso.

"Overall, we also found that Black infants died from these abnormal heart structures at a rate that was 1.4 times that of white infants,” said Danso, a pediatrician at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria.

He was to present the findings at this week's annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Orlando, Fla.

According to the American Heart Association, congenital heart defects "affect nearly 1% of, or about 40,000, births per year."

Danso tracked data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2005 through 2019, looking at deaths due to congenital heart disease in babies up to the age of 1.

Out of more than 60.2 million live births,19,004 congenital heart disease-related infant deaths were recorded.

There was some good news: The U.S. death rate from the heart abnormalities in newborns fell from 36.1 per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 27 by 2019 -- a decline of about 25%.

However, Black infants with the condition were still 40% more likely to not survive to 1 year compared with white babies, Danso's study found.

More research must be done "to determine the drivers behind these disparities,” Danso said in an AAP news release. “More research is needed on this disparity to understand why Black infants with congenital heart disease are more likely to die.”

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

Find out more about congenital heart disease at the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: American Academy of Pediatrics, news release, Sept, 27, 2024