Racial Disparities in Induction Immunosuppression Use Among Heart Transplant Recipients in the United States

Introduction: Black heart transplant recipients have higher rates of acute rejection, graft failure, and mortality compared to other races. Induction immunosuppression in the immediate peri-transplant period may lower the risk of acute rejection among high-risk patients, including Black transplant recipients. However, it is not known whether the odds of receiving this treatment are different across races. Therefore, we evaluated whether there are disparities in the use of induction immunosuppression following heart transplants among Black patients compared to other races. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of U.S. adults in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients who received their first heart transplant between 2008 - 2018. We used mixed-effects logistic regression to compare the odds of receiving induction immunosuppression agents (IL-2 receptor antagonists, polyclonal anti-lymphocyte antibodies, and CD52 monoclonal antibodies) across different races. Results: Among 23,935 adult heart transplant recipients, 5,160 (21.6%) were Black, including 2,797 (54.2%) who received induction immunosuppression, and 18,775 (78.4%) were non-Black, including 9,499 (50.6%) who received induction immunosuppression. After accounting for demographic and clinical characteristics and treatment center, Black race was associated with 28% higher odds (Odds Ratio=1.28, 95% CI 1.17-1.40) of induction immunosuppression use compared to other races. Similar results were observed when race was further stratified (Table 1). Conclusions: In our study, Black heart transplant recipients were more likely to receive induction immunosuppression than transplant recipients of other races. However, further research on post-transplant clinical outcomes including survival following induction immunosuppression among Black patients is needed to formulate treatment guidelines.