A recent study has established a connection between marijuana use and an increased risk of heart disease, indicating that smoking or consuming it in gummy form may negatively impact heart health. Structural heart disease (SHD), in particular, can be especially insidious, often manifesting without any noticeable symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath until it’s too late and a major event occurs, such as a heart attack. However, innovation in the medical field is emerging to combat this issue. A new artificial intelligence tool called EchoNext is making strides in the detection of hidden heart problems that trained cardiologists might overlook.
The device analyzes standard ECGs—a routine, five-minute heart test—to provide critical insights that could be lifesaving. SHD refers to defects in the heart’s walls, valves, or chambers, which may be congenital or develop over time without detection. Traditional ECGs often fail to identify SHD, making the role of EchoNext crucial. Developed by researchers at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian, EchoNext has been trained using more than 1.2 million ECG and echocardiogram pairs from over 230,000 patients, helping to determine when further investigation through echocardiograms is necessary.
EchoNext has demonstrated impressive results, detecting 77% of SHD cases from ECGs, in contrast to 64% accuracy from cardiologists. In a follow-up study of 85,000 individuals, it identified over 7,500 patients at high risk for SHD, with a significant diagnosis rate upon further testing. It is essential to take heart health seriously, even without overt symptoms. AI tools like EchoNext could help uncover potential risks earlier, ultimately leading to more effective treatment options before serious complications arise.
As such tools become more widely available, patients should consider asking their doctors about the use of AI in reviewing heart tests.
Leave a Reply