It has been well recognized for years that the survival rates among African-Americans with chronic diseases are reduced compared to their white counterparts. Recently attention has focussed on racial disparities in survival with chronic cardiovascular diseases. Prior to the widespread availability of coronary arteriography, African-Americans were thought to have a very low incidence of coronary artery disease. These findings appear to be inconsistent with the now generally accepted view that the coronary artery disease mortality rate is nearly equal in United States Black and white men and is increased in Black women as compared to white women.