While there may have been a modest improvement in excess cardiovascular mortality in Black Americans compared with White Americans from 2023 to 2024 and a trend toward partial recovery from the pandemic era, there remains a persistent racial disparity, as illustrated in JACC research published on June 19 in recognition of Juneteenth.

In the third annual JACC progress report on Excess Cardiovascular Mortality Among Black Americans, Adith S. Arun, BS; Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, MACC, et al., draw from 2000-2024 mortality data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to calculate excess age-adjusted cardiovascular mortality rates (AAMR) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) for Black compared with White Americans by sex and cardiovascular disease category.

Results showed a modest improvement in excess AAMR from 2023, by 4.3% among Black men and 0.7% among Black women, although Black women also saw a 5.7% rise in excess heart failure mortality – the only increase seen in the study. The overall trend in improvement represents a partial post pandemic rebound, the authors note.

However, despite this mild improvement, Black Americans continue to experience a substantially higher cardiovascular mortality, with an excess AAMR of 110.4 per 100,000 persons – higher in men (147.2) than women (88.9) and representing >1 million excess YPLL.

Hypertension was the leading contributor to excess mortality, followed by ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.

"The 2024 data describe a country whose advances in cardiovascular science and care have not yet translated into convergence in cardiovascular survival between Black and White Americans," write Arun, et al. "Closing this gap will require sustained attention to the structural, clinical and policy factors that produce it, and a willingness to treat the absence of progress as itself a finding that demands response."