Dr Tom Hyde, Cotswold Cardiology

British Heart Foundation Features Breakthrough Heart Attack Prevention Technology in Online News Programme forĀ World Heart Day

CaRi-HeartĀ® Users share Excitement on PotentialĀ for Heart Attack Prediction and Prevention

Oxford, United Kingdom, September 29, 2023ā€”Ā On World Heart Day,Ā Caristo Diagnostics Limited, a global leader in cardiac and vascular disease diagnostics and risk prediction, confirms that its CaRi-HeartĀ® technology has been featured as part of a British Heart Foundation (BHF) programme anchored by presenter and journalist Louise Minchin on ITN BusinessĀ  (linkĀ toĀ CaRi-HeartĀ segment orĀ watchĀ theĀ entire programme). TheĀ CaRi-HeartĀ technology, which was developed with funding from the BHF, harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze images of the heart arteries and predict the likelihood of a heart attack ā€“ based on information that is not otherwise available using current diagnostic techniques.

According to BHF, there are around 7.6 million people in the UK living with heart or circulatory disease, and many more who are, but donā€™t even know it yet, because their condition is hidden or silent. On this yearā€™s World Heart Day, the British Heart Foundation launchesĀ The Hidden HeartĀ programme to explore hidden heart conditions, innovations in research and new treatments. The programme features Caristoā€™sĀ CaRi-HeartĀ technology, with insights from the technologyā€™s scientific inventor as well as a clinical user and a patient. TheĀ CaRi-HeartĀ technology can uniquely detect coronary inflammation, which research has shown to be a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease progression and mortality, but is not visible in any other routine heart scan. Clinicians can then use this new information together with quantification of plaques, all provided by theĀ CaRi-HeartĀ platform, to identify at-risk patients more effectively and optimize their treatment, so future cardiac events can be prevented.

ā€œAround 200,000 patients every year undergo a cardiac CT scan to look for disease in the heart arteries. Of these only 20% are seen as having significant artery narrowings that are acted upon, the other 80% are archived,ā€ saidĀ Professor Charalambos Antoniades, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford. ā€œThat means potentially tens of thousands of people in need of treatment are overlooked because plaque alone is not as predictive of future heart attack risk as the combination of plaque and inflammation.ā€

Dr Tom Hyde, consultant cardiologist at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon and lead clinician at Cotswold Cardiology, has been an early adopter usingĀ CaRi-HeartĀ results to assess his patientsā€™ heart conditions. ā€œInflammation plays an important part in the development of coronary artery disease and is a strong predictor of disease progression and cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or death,ā€ commented Dr. Hyde. ā€œTraditionally, there has been no way for us to see or measure coronary inflammation. WithĀ Cari-HeartĀ technology we can now identify people with hidden risk and take preventative measures early on. In addition, seeing the visual improvement in coronary inflammation levels gives my patients the reassurance and peace of mind, that cannot really be put into words. Seeing is believing.ā€

The Hidden Heart programme interviewed one of Dr. Hydeā€™s patients, who receivedĀ CaRi-HeartĀ results twice during the last few years.

British Heart Foundation was one of the earliest supporters of Professor Antoniadesā€™ research to predict heart attacks years before they happen. The research led to the creation of Caristo Diagnostics and its development of theĀ CaRi-HeartĀ platform for heart attack prediction and prevention. ā€œBHF is one of the very few funders in the UK to support early-stage cardiovascular research. The scientific breakthrough behind theĀ CaRi-HeartĀ technology would not have been possible without early support from them, and that is why BHF funding is so crucial for this kind of research,ā€ said Professor Antoniades.

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