Top in cardiology: AI predicts cardiac events; marijuana linked to heart failure risk

A study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions showed that CaRi-Heart, an AI-based technology, predicted cardiac events by detecting coronary inflammation invisible to the human eye.

“The impact of this is that it identifies a group of people who would otherwise be unaware that they are at risk, and it means that doctors can use the information provided by this new technology to give them advice and treatment and reduce their risk of future heart attack and death,” Keith Channon, FMedSci, FRCP, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and head of the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at Oxford University and co-founder and chief medical officer of Caristo Diagnostics, told Healio.

The researchers who developed CaRi-Heart Technology (Caristo Diagnostics) expect “that an integral part of the interpretation and the clinical use of cardiac CT scans will incorporate this new technology,” Channon said. It was the top story in cardiology last week.

In another top story, two observational studies also presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions linked regular marijuana use to an elevated risk for heart failure (HF) and major adverse cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular events.

In the HF study, adjusted data showed that daily users of marijuana had an increased risk for incident HF compared with never users.

“Marijuana use could lead to HF by first causing ischemic heart disease or arrhythmia, which eventually could lead to HF,” Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, MD, MPH, a resident physician at Medstar Health in Baltimore, told Healio.

Adjusted data from the major CV event study showed that marijuana users had an elevated risk for major CV events compared with nonusers.

Since both studies are observational, causality cannot be established until more research is done.

“We call for more researchers to evaluate the health effects of marijuana use,” Bene-Alhasan said. “That is the only way we as physicians can help patients make an informed decision on marijuana.”

Read these and more top stories in cardiology below:

AI-enabled technology independently predicts cardiac events based on coronary inflammation

An artificial intelligence-based technology that evaluates coronary inflammation predicted risk for cardiac events in patients undergoing coronary CTA, according to new study data. Read more.

Regular marijuana use linked to risk for HF, major adverse heart, brain events

Two observational studies linked regular marijuana use to elevated risk for HF and elevated risk for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Read more.

Lepodisiran substantially lowers Lp(a) in early trial

In a phase 1 study, lepodisiran was well-tolerated and produced dose-dependent reductions in lipoprotein(a) concentrations in adults without CVD who had elevated lipoprotein(a) levels. Read more.

Early study suggests gene editing can lower LDL cholesterol via PCSK9 inhibition

A novel single-dose CRISPR base-editing infusion for patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and advanced coronary artery disease reduced serum PCSK9 and lowered LDL by up to 55% in one patient, a speaker reported. Read more.

Injectable antihypertensive drug lowers blood pressure for up to 6 months

Zilebesiran, an investigational subcutaneous RNA interference therapeutic, lowered systolic blood pressure at 3 months and sustained the reduction to 6 months, according to results of the phase 2 KARDIA-1 trial. Read more.