STAT+: AI wades into a vexing medical mystery: What causes sudden cardiac death?

A study published in Nature on Wednesday utilizes artificial intelligence to address the long-standing medical mystery of sudden cardiac death, which claims over 350,000 lives annually in the U.S. The research identifies cardiac fibrosis, or scar tissue within the heart, as a common factor in individuals at the highest risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

This finding is significant because cardiac fibrosis was previously considered a relatively benign condition, and its presence in high-risk individuals often evades current detection methods, making preventative interventions like implantable defibrillators difficult to administer effectively.

The AI's ability to pinpoint this correlation offers a potential breakthrough in identifying at-risk patients before a fatal event occurs, thereby improving the efficacy of preventative cardiac care and reducing preventable deaths.