Young patients with heart defects more prone to heart failure later in life

Early screening and continuous follow up essential for increased life expectancy

recent study in Sweden indicated that young individuals with

Dr Niklas Bergh , who led the study , said the discovery underlined the need for early and continuous intervention . “ Increased awareness of the high risk of heart failure in this population may lead to an earlier diagnosis as well as more appropriate treatment , which may have implications for survival ,” the cardiologist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden said , according to the American Heart Association .

The study , published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation , involved analysing 89,532 people born with heart defects between 1930 and 2017 and comparing them to a control group of 890,469 people with no heart defects .

Heart failure was diagnosed in 7.8 percent of people with congenital heart defects and 1.1 percent of the control group over an average of 25 and 27 years of follow-up , respectively . This shows that people born with heart defects had an 8.7 times higher lifetime risk of heart failure than those born without them . Additionally , more complex heart defects further triple the risk of heart failure .

Congenital heart defects are structural abnormalities of the heart , specifically underdeveloped heart chambers , valves , or blood vessels present since birth . The condition will likely disrupt the heart ’ s function to pump enough blood , ultimately leading to heart failure .

Dr Curt Daniels , who heads the Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center , stressed that more studies on congenital heart defect treatment should be conducted . “ We need to understand that these patients are unique and different . We need research for how to evaluate and treat heart failure in this group earlier in life ,” he said , according to the American Heart Association .

AI can diagnose heart disease simply by scanning eye

It ’ s a quick , accurate , and non-invasive test procedure

esearchers have developed an artificial intelligence ( AI ) system that can determine a person ’ s risk of heart disease in under a minute via a retinal scan .

The innovative approach will empower ophthalmologists and optometrists to conduct cardiovascular screening using AI-enabled camera devices without resorting to conventional tests , such as full blood analysis and blood pressure measurements . Moreover , the test can be performed anywhere .

Dr Alicja Rudnicka , who authored the study , stated that AI applications in diagnostics enabled early medical intervention that could improve cardiovascular health and save lives . People found to have a high risk of developing heart problems could take statins , medication to lower cholesterol in the blood , or undergo another intervention , the professor of statistical epidemiology at St George ’ s , University of London told the Guardian .

Cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) is the leading cause of death worldwide and causes one in four deaths in the United Kingdom alone . To help meet the need for early detection , researchers developed the Quantitative Analysis of Retinal Vessels Topology and Size ( QUARTZ ), an AI-powered tool that evaluates retinal vasculature imaging and traditional risk variables in making prognoses about vascular health and mortality . They also concluded that the retinal data model computed by QUARTZ displayed similar predictive performance to established CVD assessment methods , such as the Framingham clinical risk score .

“ AI-enabled vasculometry risk prediction is fully automated , low cost , non-invasive and has the potential for reaching a higher proportion of the population in the community because of ‘ high street ’ availability and because blood sampling or sphygmomanometry are not needed ,” the researchers wrote in the British Journal of Ophthalmology .

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