The initial months of the CAP award period were spent developing the data collection instruments necessary for the protocol. these included extensive chart review and patient interview datasheets, and the development of a relational database for data collection. Nursing and catheterization staffs were educated about the goals of the study, as their assistance is paramount toward enrolling a large number of black patients from the cardiac catheterization laboratories at our institutions. As of 12/98, formal patient enrollment has now begun. Data accumulation is still in its early progress, and insufficient study data available for formal analysis. However, pilot data and projected patient enrollment calculations suggest that important correlations will be established between clinical characteristics of black patients with coronary disease and the presence of elevated ventricular relative wall thickness and elevated left ventricular mass. Concurrently, the relationship of left ventricular wall thickness to mesured electrocardiographic voltage will be established in this study. This will be an important step toward explaining the differences in electrocardiographic voltage criteria for hypertrophy seen between black and caucasian populations. The cohort of black patients acquired during this study will ultimately form the basis for future longer-term survival studies. These will investigate the relationship between relative wall thickness and left ventricular hypertrophy with cardiovascular mortality in blacks. This will pave the way toward accurate definition of pathologically-relevant criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy in this group. This is a multi-center study will(1) determine ECG voltage criteria that correlate best with RWT in blacks, (2) determine clinical predictors of RWT in a black population and (3) develop a multimariate clinical prediction rule for RWT in blacks.
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