Heart Surgery in End-Stage Renal Disease: Is Outcome Worse for African American Patients?

General results of open heart surgery in end-stage renal disease patients (ESRD) have been well-documented. However, it is unknown if the African American subgroup with known decreased access to advanced healthcare services and a higher prevalence rate of ESRD have a worse long-term survival after heart surgery. Thirty of 150 African American patients who underwent open heart surgery by a single surgeon at an urban community hospital between 1996 and 2010 were identified to have ESRD and were on chronic maintenance hemodialysis prior to surgery. Clinical and outcome data from both groups were retrospectively analyzed. There were no significant differences in the baseline demographic characteristics of the patients, but the ESRD cohort showed a significantly higher prevalence of peripheral vascular and cardiovascular diseases [P < 0.001]. Compared to the non-ESRD subjects, the predicted logistic EuroSCORE was 16.4% vs. 9.4%, [P < 0.001], while the observed 30 days operative mortality was 16.6% vs. 4.2% [P < 0.02], respectively. In isolated coronary artery bypass graft cases, operative mortality was 20.8% and 3.0%, respectively. The 5- and 10-year post-surgery survival was 40% and 25% vs. 72% and 57% [P < 0.01], respectively, in the ESRD and non-ESRD groups. Operative mortality and survival was worse in ESRD patients compared to non-ESRD patients based on their preoperative risk scores. Although the operative mortality of our ESRD patients was high, long-term survival was comparable to reports from both the United States Renal Data System and a Japanese ESRD cohort.