AI analysis of mammograms can detect heart disease, study suggests

AI may help detect heart disease in women from routine mammograms, according to research involving almost 30,000 women.

Researchers found a machine-learning model could distinguish women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or a previous stroke using mammogram images.

The findings suggest breast cancer screening could potentially also flag cardiovascular problems without requiring an additional imaging examination.

Dr Viana Copeland, from Tel Aviv University, presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in Munich.

The researcher said: “Despite being the leading cause of death in women worldwide, CVD [cardiovascular disease] is consistently underdiagnosed and undertreated.

“A common finding in our medical centre, and around the world, is that when women do seek medical help, their CVD is already advanced.

“On the other hand, many women do attend routine breast cancer screening, even when they haven’t sought care for cardiovascular symptoms.

Researchers in Israel analysed 97,364 mammogram scans from 29,921 women with an average age of 54 and cross-referenced the images with their medical records.

Among the women, 16 per cent had high blood pressure, 2.5 per cent had coronary heart disease and 2.5 per cent had experienced a stroke.

A machine-learning model was trained to identify women with these conditions.

Using mammograms alone, the model could distinguish women who had experienced a stroke from those who had not 86 per cent of the time.

For high blood pressure, the figure was 79 per cent, while for coronary heart disease it was 78 per cent.

The results were consistent regardless of age or whether a woman also had cancer.

Copeland said analysing existing mammograms for information about cardiovascular health “could potentially offer a scalable approach without requiring an additional imaging examination”.

“Mammography also reaches many women in midlife, an important period for recognising and addressing cardiovascular risk.”

Researchers are working to improve the model’s accuracy, reduce false results and increase the number of heart conditions it can identify.

Elena Arbelo, an expert member of the European Society of Cardiology communication committee, described the findings as “compelling”.

“A mammogram may one day do more than look for breast cancer – it may also offer a window on to cardiovascular health. That matters because CVD in women is still too often recognised late.”

She added: “The challenge now is to establish accuracy and reliability – to move from experimentation to clinical implementation.”