Date and Time
December 2, 2009
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Availability
Open to the public
No RSVP required

Speaker
Vincent Liu - MD

Racial disparities, well-described in many areas of health care, have not been fully evaluated among recipients of lung transplantation.

Our objective was to assess the effect of race on lung transplant survival and to determine whether racial disparities are changing over time. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 16,875 white and minority adult primary lung transplant recipients from 1987 to 2009 using national data from the United Network of Organ Sharing. We measured the risk of death after lung transplant for racial minorities compared with whites using time-to-event analysis. Racial disparities were also evaluated as a function of transplant eras. Minority and white transplant recipients characteristics differed significantly at baseline. Minority transplant recipients were at increased risk of death when compared with white recipients. After adjustment for risk factors, however, the hazard was greatest in the historical transplant era, especially among blacks. In the modern transplant era, survival improved for all subjects. However, a greater improvement among minorities has closed the racial gap in survival. The racial disparity in lung transplant survival, most pronounced before 2000, has been eliminated in the last decade.