NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Blacks and Hispanics who have chest pains that seem to be related to heart disease are less likely to have signs of completely clogged heart arteries compared with people of other ethnic backgrounds, study findings suggest.

However, this does not mean that they are at lower risk from heart disease or chest pain. Research suggests that African-American men are twice as likely to die from heart disease as Hispanic men, and are also more than 25% more likely to die due to heart disease than white men.

In the new study, Dr. Matthew J. Budoff of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California and colleagues used two different techniques to examine the heart arteries of 453 whites, 108 blacks, 177 Hispanics and 44 Asians. They used angiography, which locates blockages in the arteries, and electron beam tomography (EBT), which detects calcium deposits, a common component of fatty plaques. EBT is a relatively new type of x-ray imaging that has not been recommended for widespread screening.

According to the report in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the investigators found that whites and Asians had similar rates of clogging in their arteries: 73% to 84% had coronary calcification and 64% to 71% had "significant obstruction" in their arteries

By comparison, 62% of blacks and 71% of Hispanics had coronary calcification and 49% of blacks and 58% had blocked heart arteries.

Even after the researchers considered other risk factors known to be associated with clogging of the arteries--including age, sex, high blood pressure and smoking--the study demonstrated that whites and Asians with chest pain were more likely to have signs of artery blockages on the tests, the report indicates.

"The findings confirm previous studies that have identified racial differences with regard to cardiovascular disease," Dr. Donald W. LaVan, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, said in an interview with Reuters Health. "Of those who have symptoms of heart disease, it appears that whites and Asians have more obstruction than blacks and Hispanics."

But, LaVan warned, "The worse thing that could happen is that blacks or Hispanics might infer from the findings that they can ignore their symptoms...that they are at less risk" for stroke or death.

"The death rate from cardiovascular disease for blacks especially, is inordinately high," he said. "Often the first sign of cardiovascular disease in this group is stroke or sudden death."

Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a disease in which fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances form plaque deposits on the walls of a person's arteries, eventually causing the arteries to narrow and restrict blood flow. When blood to the heart muscle becomes severely restricted, it causes symptoms such as chest pain. Left untreated, the condition can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2002;39:408-412.

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