- AI has been used to analyze mammograms to identify women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, or those who have suffered a stroke.
- The study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology annual congress in Munich, the world's largest heart conference.
- In the study, doctors in Israel examined 97,364 scans from 29,921 women with an average age of 54.
- The AI model identified stroke with 86% accuracy, high blood pressure with 79% accuracy, and coronary heart disease with 78% accuracy.
- Experts suggest that breast screening could become dual-purpose, helping to identify both breast cancer and cardiovascular issues.
- Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in women worldwide, yet it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated.
- The study found that 16% of the women had high blood pressure, 2.5% had coronary heart disease, and 2.5% had experienced a stroke.
- The AI model showed consistent results regardless of age or cancer status.
- Dr. Viana Copeland emphasized the importance of using mammograms for early detection of CVD in women.
Doctors in Israel have developed a method to utilize routine mammograms for detecting heart disease, a leading cause of death among women.3
Researchers analyzed 97,364 scans from 29,921 women, revealing that 16% had high blood pressure, 2.5% had coronary heart disease, and 2.5% had experienced a stroke.14578
Using AI, the model achieved an 86% accuracy rate in identifying stroke cases from mammograms alone, with 79% for high blood pressure and 78% for coronary heart disease.
Dr. Viana Copeland from Tel Aviv University emphasized the need for improved detection methods, stating, “Despite being the leading cause of death in women worldwide, CVD is consistently underdiagnosed and undertreated.”10
Elena Arbelo, an expert from the European Society of Cardiology, called the findings “compelling,” highlighting the challenge of transitioning from experimental to clinical use.2
The study's findings could lead to earlier identification of women at risk for cardiovascular diseases during routine breast screenings, potentially saving lives.
Coronary heart disease kills twice as many women as breast cancer in the UK annually, with over 800,000 women living with the condition.
It’s estimated that around half of them have survived a heart attack.
“The AI model identified stroke with 86% accuracy, hypertension with 79%, and coronary heart disease with 78%, based on 97,364 scans from 29,921 women. Experts say this could enable earlier detection of CVD, which is often underdiagnosed in women.”
The Guardian
The Independent
