{
  "id": 19824323,
  "title": "AI analysis of heart ultrasounds may help flag long-term cardiovascular or dementia-related death risk",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/ai-analysis-of-heart-ultrasounds-may-help-flag-long-term",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-13T15:20:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-11-ai-analysis-heart-ultrasounds-flag.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An analysis of heart ultrasounds using artificial intelligence (AI) may help identify individuals at risk for long-term cardiovascular or dementia-related death, according to findings presented at the ESC Digital & AI Summit 2026. Researchers from Mayo Clinic discovered that a discrepancy between an AI-estimated \"cardiac age\" and a person's actual age is linked to worse outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, the relationship in the general population was unclear.\n\nThe retrospective study analyzed data from a community-based cohort of 568 adults aged 50 or older who underwent echocardiography between 2002 and 2004. AI analysis was used to estimate each participant's cardiac age, and the researchers calculated the difference between the AI-estimated cardiac age and the individual's actual age. Over a 20-year period, data on cardiovascular- and dementia-related mortality were collected from the cohort.\n\nThe analysis revealed that each five-year increase in the difference between AI-predicted (biological) age and chronological age was associated with a 61% higher risk of cardiovascular or dementia-related death over 20 years. When additional factors like age, sex, body mass index, and left ventricular ejection fraction were taken into account, the association remained significant, with each five-year increase in the cardiac age gap linked to a 46% higher risk of death.\n\nThe researchers suggest that AI-derived cardiac aging signatures could serve as a marker to identify individuals with long-term vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Such analyses could also be useful in studying whether lifestyle or medical interventions can reduce the cardiac age gap. While the study focused on cardiovascular- and dementia-related mortality, the researchers note that separate AI age analyses could provide insights into the relationship between cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases.\n\nFurther prospective evaluations in larger, independent cohorts are needed to validate these findings.",
  "summary": "Having a heart age older than one's actual age, as estimated using artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of ultrasound images, was associated with worse outcomes, according to results presented today at the ESC Digital & AI Summit 2026.",
  "key_points": [
    "AI analysis of heart ultrasounds estimates cardiac age.",
    "Five-year increase in cardiac age gap raises death risk 61%.",
    "Study suggests AI-derived cardiac aging as mortality risk marker."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}