Artificial intelligence could predict whether a person is at risk of a heart attack up to ten years in advance, according to a study by the University of Oxford. The technology, which analyses cardiac CT scans more accurately, could save thousands of lives and improve treatment for nearly half of patients, researchers said.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), examined how AI might enhance the accuracy of cardiac CT scans used to detect blockages or narrowing in arteries. Researchers analysed data from over 40,000 patients undergoing routine scans at eight UK hospitals, with a median follow-up of 2.7 years.
The AI tool was tested on a further 3,393 patients over almost eight years and accurately predicted heart attack risk. When AI-generated risk scores were presented to medics for 744 patients, 45% had their treatment plans altered as a result.
Professor Charalambos Antoniades, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the BHF, said: 'Our study found that some patients presenting in hospital with chest pain – who are often reassured and sent back home – are at high risk of having a heart attack in the next decade, even in the absence of any sign of disease in their heart arteries.' He added that providing an accurate picture of risk could alter and improve treatment for many heart patients.
About 350,000 people in the UK have a CT scan each year, but many later die of heart attacks due to the scans' failure to pick up small, undetectable narrowings. The researchers found that those with 'significant' narrowing were more likely to have a serious heart attack, but twice as many patients with no significant narrowings also went on to have heart attacks, sometimes fatal.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the BHF, said the research 'shows the valuable role AI-based technology can play' in identifying those most at risk. Professor Antoniades expressed hope that the AI tool would soon be implemented across the NHS, helping prevent thousands of avoidable deaths from heart attacks every year in the UK.
