Scott Flamm, MD, on the advantages of outsourcing cardiac image post-processing.

We are delighted to share the latest episode of The Cardiac Wire Show, with PIA’s Jim Canfield and Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Scott Flamm discussing the advantages of outsourcing cardiac image post-processing. Check it out to learn how PIA helps increase efficiency, accuracy, and standardization in the diagnostic process.

Cardiovascular Disease

Uncovering the Long-Term CV Risks Following Pregnancy Complications

A Swedish cohort study found that approximately 30% of pregnant women have a major pregnancy complication, which can lead to an elevated risk for ischemic heart disease that persists for decades.

Using data from 2.1M Swedish women, the authors examined five major types of adverse pregnancy outcomes: preterm delivery (< 37 weeks gestation), small for gestational age, preeclampsia, other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and gestational diabetes.

Women with one (or more) adverse pregnancy events had increased risk for CAD out to 46 years post-pregnancy.  

• Over the follow-up period (median 25 years, maximum 46 years), 3.8% of women were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease.
  
• 10 years postpartum, those who had pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders had the greatest CAD risk (adjusted HR 2.09), followed by those with preterm delivery (HR 1.72), preeclampsia (HR 1.54), gestational diabetes (HR 1.30), and a small-for-gestational-age infant (HR 1.10).

• 10-19 years postpartum, having a small-for-gestational-age infant was associated with the highest CAD risk.
  
• 20-29 years postpartum, gestational diabetes was associated with the highest risk.
  
• 30-46 years postpartum, adjusted hazard ratios for CAD decreased but remained elevated compared with those without adverse pregnancy outcomes. 

The Takeaway

Long-term risks of pregnancy complications often go unmentioned between women and their physicians in routine practice. But this study reveals that adverse pregnancy outcomes are important lifelong risk factors for heart disease, and provide an opportunity to identify high-risk women earlier than with traditional risk factors alone. 

How Precision Heart Therapy Advances the Business of Healthcare

Health systems continue to face economic and regulatory pressure to reduce care costs and improve outcomes. See how Cleerly’s precision heart care approach helps enhance patient care, avoid unnecessary and high-cost procedures, and improve the patient and provider experience.

Us2.ai Automates the Fight Against Heart Disease

See how Us2.ai cuts echocardiography’s manual work, subjectivity, and turnaround times to automate the fight against heart disease.

The Wire

• JACC Editor Interviews ChatGPT: Douglas Mann, MD, editor-in-chief of JACC: Basic to Translational Science interviewed the natural language processing tool ChatGPT about the role of AI in translational medicine. He asked questions like, “Why is AI the future of translational medicine?” and “Why will AI not be the future of translational medicine?” ChatGPT’s responses may surprise you. Check out the full interview here. 

• Doximity Unveils DocsGPT Beta: Speaking of ChatGPT, Doximity just debuted a beta version of its ChatGPT tool for doctors that helps streamline administrative tasks such as drafting prior authorizations and faxing them through Doximity’s fax service. If you haven’t had a chance to play around with a healthcare-specific version of ChatGPT yet, here is an easy way to check one out.

• Identifying Risk in Cardiac Catheterization Patients: Researchers developed a metabolic vulnerability index score that helped predict all-cause mortality in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. The score–derived from the NMR biomarkers GlycA, small HDL, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and citrate concentrations–made strong, independent contributions to 5-year mortality risk prediction in both cohorts (N=5.9K and 2.9K), with hazard ratios of 2.18 and 1.67. 

• DarioHealth + Dexcom: DarioHealth is now integrating data from Dexcom continuous glucose monitors into its chronic condition management platform. The partnership enables Dario’s digital metabolic health tools to directly access blood glucose data from Dexcom CGMs to provide personalized support for diabetes patients.

• hs-cTn Levels Among Pregnant Women: A study in JAMA Cardiology found that hs-cTn levels can be interpreted similarly in pregnant and nonpregnant women when evaluating for CVD, and do not appear to be associated with weight gain and hemodynamic changes during pregnancy in comparison to other cardiac biomarkers, like NT-proBNP. The authors analyzed data from 2.4k CVD-free women aged 18 to 40 years. hs-cTn levels were similar among pregnant and nonpregnant women across all trimesters and across four assays. 

• Cleerly Partners with ClearDATA: Cleerly is partnering with ClearDATA, a compliance and cyber defense provider to help safeguard patients’ health information. Since partnering with ClearDATA, Cleerly’s product development team has tripled its capacity and saved its engineers over 4,300 hours of cyber security compliance management, allowing them to focus on coronary CT AI innovations. 

• Incidental Findings in AFib Screenings: The incidental diagnosis of sinus node dysfunction or atrioventricular block was present in 1 in 5 older patients undergoing implantable loop recorder (ILR) screening for AFib, increasing the rate of pacemaker implantations, but not decreasing the risk of syncope or death. These findings, from a post hoc analysis of the LOOP trial, raises concern regarding the role of incidental findings in prolonged ILR monitoring.

• Breaking Down Carb Types and CVD Risk: A study out of the UK found that the type of carbohydrate consumed–rather than the quantity alone–influences the risk of developing CVD. The authors examined 110k UK Biobank participants with two to five 24-hour dietary assessments, finding that consuming “free sugar” was linked to a slightly increased risk of total CVD (HR: 1.07), ischemic heart disease (HR: 1.06), and stroke (HR: 1.10). Conversely, consuming more fiber was linked to a slightly reduced risk of total CVD (HR: 0.96) and ischemic heart disease (HR: 0.94).

• Nanox.ai Connects to Nuance PIN: Nanox announced its connection to the Nuance Precision Imaging Network (PIN), allowing provider organizations to utilize Nanox.AI’s FDA cleared HealthOST and HealthCCSng solutions to detect incidental signs of CVD and osteoporosis in routine CT exam. Although Nanox is best known for its unique scanner and marketing tactics, these incidental solutions got their start within AI trailblazer Zebra Med before it was acquired by Nanox in mid-2021.

• Evaluating ASCVD Risk Prediction Tools: Combining a 30-year ASCVD risk prediction tool with a 10-year risk prediction tool improved prediction accuracy in young adults. In the study, which included 414k adults between 18 and 39 years, those with a low 10-year predicted risk but a high 30-year risk were three times more likely to experience an ASCVD event over a median of 4 years, compared to their low 10-year and low 30-year risk counterparts. As the authors point out, using short- and long-term prediction tools together could help identify high-risk adults earlier. 

PRECISE Trial Rewrites the Patient Pathway

HeartFlow’s landmark PRECISE trial found that their precision approach for evaluating people with stable chest pain avoided unnecessary testing and improved care without putting patients at risk of a missed heart disease diagnosis.

Relieving The Burden of Post-Processing

With the advent of advanced imaging technologies like CCTA come added burdens to technologists and diagnostic imaging centers. See how PIA can relieve the burden of post-processing, saving you time while helping your bottom line.

Protecting Your Cardiovascular Imaging Data

Are you sure about your cardiovascular imaging data security? Tune-in to this Change Healthcare webinar discussing how hospital systems and healthcare providers can strategically improve their data security.