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A team of researchers from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with groups from other institutes in Germany and the United States, has developed a new technique for analyzing images obtained by computer tomography scans (CT) that allows you to determine years in advance which patients will risk a heart attack in the future. The technology uses algorithms to examine the fat in the coronary arteries.
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When one of these blood vessels becomes inflamed, the fat undergoes alterations and this mechanism can be a wake-up call for about 30% of heart attacks. Information on the new technique has been published in the English scientific journal The Lancet (fonte: https://bit.ly/2MZp1vN ).
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Charalambos Antoniades, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Oxford: "Being able to detect inflamed arteries allows us to determine which blood vessel could cause a heart attack in the future. Thanks to the new technology we have developed, we can achieve this simply by analyzing the scans of computerized tomography.
Most heart attacks are caused by an accumulation of cholesterol (plaque) inside the arteries that causes the blood flow to be interrupted.
Currently, CT scans allow clinicians to see which arteries are already narrowed due to cholesterol buildup. Thanks to the new technology, the use of which is expected to be approved within a year, they will be able to predict which blood vessels are likely to shrink in the future.
Heart disease and heart attacks are two of the leading causes of death worldwide. Researchers hope that their invention will increase the rate of prevention of heart attacks, even if it is not possible to quantify the exact number of heart attacks that the new technology can avoid, but should be able to identify at least 20 to 30% of patients at risk.