Racial disparities in sudden cardiac death rates cannot be explained by known risk factors

PHILADELPHIA–While it’s well reported that black patients are twice as likely as white patients to succumb to sudden cardiac death (SCD), the underlying factors that propel this disparity remain unknown. According to a first-of-its-kind study from Penn Medicine, published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers showed that even after controlling for risk factors like income, education, smoking, exercise, and bad cholesterol, among others, black patients remained at significantly higher risk for SCD.