Can Artificial Intelligence Help Personalize Treatment for Cardiology Patients?

The EU's statistical office (Eurostat) confirms that circulatory system diseases are also the leading cause of death in the EU, accounting for one-third (32.7%) of all deaths in 2020. The standardized death rate for cerebrovascular diseases in 2020 was highest in Bulgaria - 8.4 times higher compared to France, where it was lowest. Additionally, CVDs are known to be associated with significant patient morbidity, high levels of disability, absenteeism from work, and premature exit from the workforce.

Cardiovascular diseases also represent a huge economic burden for society. According to a study that addressed this issue across all 27 member states, CVDs cost the EU 282 billion euros annually, roughly 2% of GDP.

Tailored and Fine-Tuned

Identifying individuals at high risk of CVD and ensuring they receive appropriate treatment can help prevent many premature deaths and reduce morbidity associated with CVDs. Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to help in this area. Specifically, it involves a personalized medicine strategy, where disease prevention and patient treatment are tailored to the individual's unique genetic and health profile, selecting the most beneficial option from the available possibilities. Experts believe the time is right to exploit this project's potential further, as genetic information has become more accessible due to reduced lab analysis costs, and advanced AI technologies enable the combination of vast amounts of data in record time.

Integration of Multiple Data Types and Sources

The NextGen project aims to bring together clinical research organizations, universities, small and medium-sized enterprises, and professional associations to integrate multiple sources of individual data. This is complex due to personal data protection requirements, non-uniform standards across Europe, data format variety, and the volume of information. Once it is verified that the project will indeed be groundbreaking and meet unmet needs, consortium members will develop new tools. These tools will combine different types of data safely, ensuring individual privacy is maintained and research information is used correctly. The effectiveness of methods used to overcome current data integration barriers in CVDs will be demonstrated through real-world pilot studies.

This work will complement the European initiative Beyond 1 Million Genomes (B1MG), aimed at enabling safe access to genomic and clinical data, and European Health Data Space (EHDS)​​​​​​, the European Commission's governance framework for the safe exchange, use, and reuse of health data.

Project coordinator Professor Pim van der Harst from the University Medical Center Utrecht remarked that personalized medicine is the way forward for preventing heart diseases, accelerating diagnosis, monitoring, and treating people with CVDs. “To develop individualized therapies, we need to gather as much information as possible about individuals, and this is where NextGen comes in. The unique profile generated in this way forms the basis for improving cardiovascular health and well-being.” 

(esr)

Sources:
1. ESC Press Office. Heart patients set to receive treatment tailored to their genetic and health information. ESC, 2024 Feb 12. Available at: www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/heart-patients-set-to-receive-treatment-tailored-to-their-genetic-and-health-inf
2. Cardiovascular diseases. WHO, 2024. Available at: www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases#tab=tab_1
3. Cardiovascular diseases statistics. Eurostat, 2023 Sep. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Cardiovascular_diseases_statistics
4. Luengo-Fernandez R., Walli-Attaei M., Gray A. et al. Economic burden of cardiovascular diseases in the European union: a population-based cost study. Eur Heart J 2023; 44 (45): 4752–4767, doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad583.