Doctors have reportedly found a method to utilise routine mammograms, typically used for breast cancer screening, to identify heart disease in women. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in women globally and is often underdiagnosed.
Researchers analysed mammogram scans using artificial intelligence (AI) and were able to successfully identify women who had coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, or had experienced a stroke.
The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in Munich. Doctors in Israel examined 97,364 scans from 29,921 women, with an average age of 54. The AI model was able to reliably identify women who had suffered a stroke 86% of the time, and for high blood pressure and coronary heart disease, it was 79% and 78% reliable, respectively.
Dr Viana Copeland from Tel Aviv University noted that cardiovascular disease is often advanced when women seek medical help, while many attend routine breast cancer screenings. Experts suggest that analysing breast scans for heart health information could offer a scalable approach without needing additional imaging.