Black Babies With Heart Abnormalities Face Higher Death Risk

Key Takeaways Congenital heart disease is caused by an abnormality in a newborn’s heart, and can prove fatal Improvements in survival have happened over the past few decades, but Black infants aren’t benefiting as much as white babies are In a new study, Black infants with congenital heart disease had a 40% higher odds of not surviving to their first birthday, compared to white babies MONDAY, Sept. 30, 2024 (HealthDay News) — 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...