Minority patients treated at top U.S. medical centers for liver transplantation fared as well as whites, a study found.

The study, published in Hepatology, determined that racial disparity linked to liver transplantation survival was not evident when data from selected high volume academic liver transplant centers was used.

The researchers, led by W. Ray Kim, of the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., looked at data for Caucasians, African-American and other races, which included Asian and Hispanic.

"Although there were noticeable differences in baseline characteristics, such as age, gender and diagnosis among the three groups, we found no relationship between recipient race and survival," the authors said in a statement. "African-American patients did just as well as recipients of other races."

The authors suggest the minority difference in survival rates -- found in other studies -- was not evident because the study data was from patients at high-volume centers and higher center volume has already been linked to better recipient survival.

"We postulate that the difference between our data and others stems from unequal access to high-quality liver transplant centers between races,"the authors conclude. "Focused investigations to understand and eliminate barriers along the socioeconomic as well as racial boundaries are warranted."  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International




Publication date: 02 November 2007   

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