By Dr. Bhumika Maikhuri
Here are the top medical news for the day:AI Model Far Outperforms Doctors in Predicting Sudden Cardiac Death Risk: Study FindsA study published in Nature Cardiovascular Research reveals that a new artificial intelligence model developed by Johns Hopkins University significantly outperforms current clinical guidelines in predicting sudden cardiac death among patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The model, named Multimodal AI for Ventricular Arrhythmia Risk Stratification (MAARS), offers up to 93% accuracy in identifying high-risk patients鈥攆ar surpassing the approximately 50% accuracy of existing methods.Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, one of the most common inherited heart conditions, affects 1 in every 200 to 500 people worldwide and is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death, particularly among young individuals and athletes.The AI model changes that by harnessing a wide range of patient data, including long-overlooked contrast-enhanced MRI images and full-spectrum electronic health records. These images, while difficult for human doctors to interpret in detail, contain critical patterns of fibrosis鈥攐r heart scarring鈥攖hat are strongly associated with cardiac arrest risk.Tested against real-world patient data from Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in North Carolina, MAARS achieved 89% overall accuracy and 93% accuracy in patients aged 40 to 60鈥攖hose most vulnerable to sudden cardiac death. Importantly, the AI model also explains why a patient is high risk, enabling doctors to tailor treatment more precisely.鈥淐urrently we have patients dying in the prime of their life because they aren’t protected and others who are putting up with defibrillators for the rest of their lives with no benefit,鈥 said senior author Natalia Trayanova. 鈥淲e have the ability to predict with very high accuracy whether a patient is at very high risk for sudden cardiac death or not.鈥漅eference: Changxin Lai, Minglang Yin, Eugene G. Kholmovski, Dan M. Popescu, Dai-Yin Lu, Erica Scherer, Edem Binka, Stefan L. Zimmerman, Jonathan Chrispin, Allison G. Hays, Dermot M. Phelan, M. Roselle Abraham, Natalia A. Trayanova. Multimodal AI to forecast arrhythmic death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2025; DOI: 10.1038/s44161-025-00679-1Can Even Low Levels of Air Pollution Scar the Heart?A new study published in Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), has found that prolonged exposure to fine particulate air pollution is associated with early signs of heart damage. Using advanced cardiac MRI, researchers discovered that even low levels of air pollution may contribute to diffuse myocardial fibrosis, a form of scarring in the heart muscle that often precedes heart failure.Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and while prior research has linked poor air quality to increased risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues, the biological mechanisms behind this risk have remained unclear.To explore this, the researchers used cardiac MRI, a noninvasive imaging method, to quantify myocardial fibrosis in relation to long-term exposure to PM2.5鈥攆ine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, commonly emitted from vehicle exhaust, industrial activity, and wildfire smoke. The study included 201 healthy participants and 493 individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens the heart’s ability to pump blood.The findings revealed that both healthy individuals and patients with heart disease who had higher long-term exposure to PM2.5 showed increased levels of myocardial fibrosis. The strongest associations were found in women, smokers, and individuals with hypertensionThe study suggests that integrating a patient鈥檚 air pollution exposure history into clinical evaluations could improve risk assessments and help address related health disparities.鈥淧ublic health measures are needed to further reduce long-term air pollution exposure,鈥 said senior author Dr. Kate Hanneman, from the Department of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto and University Health Network, emphasizing that current pollution levels鈥攅ven those within global guidelines鈥攎ay still pose health risks. The research also highlights the vital role radiologists can play in identifying environmental impacts on human health through imaging.Reference: Jacques Du Plessis, Chloe DesRoche, Scott Delaney, Rachel C. Nethery, Rachel Hong, Paaladinesh Thavendiranathan, Heather Ross, Felipe Castillo, Kate Hanneman. Association between Long-term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Myocardial Fibrosis Assessed with Cardiac MRI. Radiology, 2025; 316 (1) DOI: 10.1148/radiol.250331Decades After Diagnosis, Childhood Cancer Survivors Still Vulnerable to Severe COVIDA new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in The Lancet Regional Health 鈥 Europe, reveals that individuals who survived cancer during childhood are at a significantly higher risk …