Simple eye test can accurately predict a fatal heart attack

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world with an estimated 17.9 million people dying from it each year, according to the World Health Organization.

According to the WHO, early detection of heart diseases, which often lead to heart attacks, can give patients time for treatment, which can save many lives.

Researchers have recently discovered that a simple eye test can be used to diagnose heart disease with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

Previous studies have shown how the retina's network of veins and arteries could provide early indications of heart disease.

This research looked at how the width of these blood vessels could be used to predict heart disease, but it was not clear whether the findings applied equally to men and women.

Researchers at St George's, University of London, used an artificial intelligence model to study a database of patients from two studies in the UK and Europe to predict future risk of cardiovascular disease.

They developed a fully automated AI-enabled algorithm called QUARTZ (or Quantitative Analysis of Retinal Vessel Topology and Size) to predict cardiovascular health and death through retinal images.

Using retinal images of 88,052 UK Biobank participants aged 40-69, QUARTZ first looked specifically at the width, vessel area and degree of tortuosity (or curvature) of arterioles and venules in the retina to developed prediction models for stroke, heart attack and death from circulatory diseases.

They then applied this model to retinal images of 7,411 participants aged 48-92 from a second study from the European Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk.

The health of all participants was tracked for an average of 7 to 9 years, during which time there were 327 deaths from circulatory diseases among 64,144 UK Biobank participants and 201 deaths from circulatory diseases among 5,862 participants EPIC-Norfolk.

Këto modele parashikuese, të bazuara në moshën, duhanpirjen, historinë mjekësore dhe vaskulaturën e retinës, kapën midis gjysmës dhe dy të tretave të vdekjeve nga sëmundjet e qarkullimit të gjakut tek ata më të rrezikuar.

Rezultatet e QUARTZ u krahasuan me kornizën Framingham Risk Scores, një mjet që aktualisht përdoret gjerësisht për të parashikuar rrezikun e sëmundjeve të zemrës, bazuar në të dhënat shëndetësore.

QUARTZ parashikoi rreth 5 për qind më shumë raste të goditjes në tru te burrat e Biobank në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar dhe 8 për qind më shumë raste te gratë e Biobank në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar sesa kuadri i Framingham.

Krahasuar me Framingham, ai parashikoi gjithashtu rreth 3 për qind më shumë raste midis burrave EPIC-Norfolk që ishin më të rrezikuar, por gati 2 për qind më pak raste midis grave EPIC-Norfolk.

Framingham, caught more cases of heart attacks among those most at risk.

In men, arteriolar and venular width, tortuosity and width variation emerged as significant predictors of death from circulatory diseases.

In women, arteriolar and venular area and width and venular tortuosity and width variation contributed to risk prediction.