Background: Normal epicardial coronary arteries (NCA) based on angiography have been reported to occur more frequently in Blacks than in Whites, but these studies have suffered from the limitation of being retrospective, reporting on relatively small numbers of subjects, or lacking a systematic angiogram interpretation. Methods and Results: Angiograms of 560 consecutive patients (226 Black and 334 White) enrolled in the Harlem-Bassett Study were reviewed. The presence of coronary artery disease risk factors was documented. A coronary artery was defined as normal if no segment contained a luminal diameter stenosis .24%. Overall, NCA were found in 39.1% of patients (Blacks 42.9% and Whites 36.5%) and were present most frequently in White wome(53.7%). Black men were two times more likely than White men to have NCA (odds ratio [OR] 2.09, P,.002). More Blacks than Whites with NCA were hypertensive (OR 3.30, P,.001) and cigarette smokers (OR 5.18, P,.001), whereas more Whites had hypercholesterolemia (OR .29, P,.001). Conclusion: Significant racial differences exist between the Black and White populations in regard to the presence of NCA. The traditional risk factors of age, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and hypercholesterolemia are present in both groups. However, a racial disparity exists in the frequency of some risk factors (hypertension, cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia) in patients with NCA
