Hispanic patients in need of a heart transplant are 50% more likely to die before they get one than white patients

Previous studies found that black patients fared poorly after transplants compared to whites, but less was known about how different racial groups do while they are waiting for a donor organ. Researchers gathered data from the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which maintains the wait list for patients needing an organ. More than 10,000 people were added to the list to receive a heart between July 2006 and September 2010. Researchers found that 10.5% of white patients who were listed died during the study period or were taken off the list because they were too sick to receive a donor heart. In comparison, 11.6% of black patients and 13.4% of Hispanic patients died or were removed from the list. Black and Hispanic patients tended to be sicker by the time they were placed on the wait list, the researchers found. For instance, 69% of black patients and 65% of Hispanics were considered to be of the highest urgency for a transplant, compared to 54% of white patients. When the researchers took into account how sick people were, they found that Hispanics were 51% more likely to die on the wait list than whites. The researchers also found that blacks were more likely to die in the hospital after receiving a heart than whites. Among more than 6,000 patients, 5.4% of white patients, 5.9% of black patients and 3.9% of Hispanic patients died in the hospital.