Black Patients, Women Face Worse Outcomes, Death In Heart & Blood Vessel Procedures | Health

MONDAY, May 19, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women and Black patients are more likely to suffer life-changing complications from advanced heart and blood vessel procedures, a trio of new studies says.

Women face a higher risk of complications after procedures aimed at replacing heart valves or altering the heart’s structure to reduce risk of stroke, researchers reported at a recent meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) in Washington, D.C.

And Black patients had a significantly higher risk of amputation and death following a procedure aimed at reopening blocked blood flow to the arms or legs, researchers added.

“After many decades, we are finally starting to see an increasing interest in addressing serious health outcomes among specific population groups,” SCAI President Dr. James Hermiller said in a news release of the three studies. 

He said they “emphasize the urgent need for inclusive research and targeted interventions to broaden perspectives and participation in cardiovascular care.”

The first study found that women are 8% more likely  than men to experience major complications following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) , a minimally invasive procedure to replace a diseased heart valve.

The study tracked more than 3,000 patients who had the procedure between 2012 and 2021. It found that women were more likely to have complications in which their new implanted valve is too small for their body size.

“These findings highlight the importance of selecting the right valve based on a comprehensive, long-term treatment strategy,” lead researcher Dr. Karim Al-Azizi, an interventional cardiologist with Baylor Scott & White Legacy Heart Center in Plano, Texas, said in a news release.

The second study found that women are more likely than men to die after a procedure to seal off a small sac in the top left chamber of the heart, called left atrial appendage occlusion.

This procedure is done to reduce risk of stroke in people with an irregular heartbeat condition called atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), by closing off a part of the heart where blood can pool and clot.

Analysis of nearly 81,500 A-Fib patients who underwent the procedure between 2016 and 2020 showed that women were twice as likely to die following the minimally invasive surgery than men.

Women also had 50% higher odds of blood vessel complications and a 22% higher risk of stroke compared to men, researchers found.

“This could be related to anatomical differences or the fact that women often have a higher baseline risk for stroke,” said lead researcher Dr. Jeremiah Bello, an internal medicine resident with the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago.

“There’s definitely more to explore here, particularly around whether women could benefit from more aggressive blood-thinning treatments after the procedure,” he said in a news release.

And in the last study, Black patients were found to be 46% more likely to require an amputation following treatment for chronic limb-threatening ischemia, a condition in which blood flow to the arms or legs has become blocked by clogged arteries.

For the study, researchers tracked more than 381,000 patients who underwent a procedure to reopen blocked blood vessels to the arms or legs between 2016 and 2023.

After one year, nearly 32% of Black patients suffered either major amputation or death, compared to about 28% of white patients, results show.

This difference was driven by a 46% higher risk of amputation among Black patients.

Black patients were 10% less likely to see a blood vessel specialist prior to the procedure, researchers found. They also were 10% more likely than white patients to have an ER visit and 26% more likely to be hospitalized due to complications from the procedure.

However, Black patients had a 10% lower risk of death compared to white patients, researchers added.

“Black patients make up nearly 20% of the CLTI population but face nearly a 50% higher risk of amputation compared to white patients,” said lead researcher Dr. Joseph Kim, a cardiology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

“These findings highlight the ongoing challenges Black patients face in accessing timely vascular care,” Kim added in a news release. “While they’re less likely to see a specialist, they’re more likely to need emergency care, underscoring the urgent need for improved care pathways that reach all patients effectively.”

Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

SOURCE: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, news release, May 1, 2025

People should be aware that there are disparities in outcomes regarding treatment for common heart and blood vessel conditions.