Renal vascular disease in African-Americans and other racial minorities.

Hypertensive end-stage renal disease is about 10-fold more common nationwide in African-Americans than in Caucasians and 17-fold higher in some sections of the United States. These figures are alarming and require a much greater effort in understanding the causes of this disparity and improving blood pressure control in this population to prevent catastrophic renal damage. More information is also needed about the renovascular status of other minorities. Financial obstacles to antihypertensive care appear to be an important contributing factor to the disparities of end-stage renal disease in African-Americans and perhaps other minorities.