August 8, 2023 — Although at greater risk, a new study found that patients of African ancestry with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) were less likely to have clinically actionable variants in DCM genes than those of European ancestry. LSU Health New Orleans is one of the 25 clinical sites nationally that enrolled participants in the study. Professor and Chief of Cardiology Dr. Frank Smart leads the LSU Health New Orleans site. The research, which adds critical genetic information about this understudied population, is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, available here.  “Black patients with cardiomyopathy have an increased familial risk, as well as an increased risk of adverse outcomes from cardiomyopathy compared to white patients,” notes Dr. Smart. “Despite knowing the increased risk in black patients, most patients who have been involved in clinical trials for heart failure have been white. Genetic trials associated with heart failure have had an even more sign