Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Thrombolysis Guided by Perfusion Imaging up to 9 Hours after Onset of Stroke

2021; Massachusetts Medical Society; Volume: 384; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1056/nejmx200014

1533-4406

Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances

To the Editor: Throughout 2020, the global movement for racial equality has led many to reflect on their own biases.While combating racism is vital in every setting, we must also preserve nomenclature in science so that it remains a tool to be wielded in the discovery of truth.Phrases such as "racial bias" and "structural racism" are commonplace in the social sciences literature, but they should be used with caution in scientific study.If the findings of the study by Sjoding et al. 1 are correct, they establish a diagnostic inaccuracy, owing to darker skin color, not a racial bias.The term "racial bias" always refers to decisions that are influenced by a person's race.Medical devices such as pulse oximeters are blind to color and cannot exhibit such a bias.It is worrisome that the study findings have been disseminated across social media as proof of "structural racism in health care." 2 Imprudent use of such terms will inevitably further erode the trust of some Black patients and will contribute to, rather than help to remedy, concerns regarding racism in Western medicine.