A recent machine learning study has shown that sphericity, or roundness, is more common in healthy hearts than previously thought.
However, it can also serve as a genetic indicator of potential heart problems in the future.
The roundness of a heart, an image made popular by our common Valentine’s Day symbols, is often associated with an organ under stress.
Yet this characteristic is typically only examined after a cardiac condition has already been diagnosed.
According to Shoa Clarke, a preventive cardiologist at Stanford School of Medicine, it’s well known in the medical field that the heart tends to become more spherical after the development of heart disease.
But with the help of artificial intelligence, the researchers have shown that hearts can take all sorts of shapes, including a fuller and rounder shape, even before a disease is diagnosed.
A New Approach to Predicting Heart Disease
The study, which was published in the journal Med, discovered new details about the genetic foundations of cardiomyopathy, a condition that includes heart arrhythmia and congestive heart failure.
The researchers studied the left-ventricle sphericity of 38,897 otherwise healthy hearts, using images from the UK Biobank.
They found that a slight increase in roundness could lead to a 47% increase in the chance of developing cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, or heart failure up to 10 years later.
By examining participants’ genetic markers, they found a correlation between sphericity and these heart conditions.
The researchers concluded that intrinsic disease of the heart muscle, such as damage not suffered during a heart attack, can cause the left ventricle to become more spherical, even before a heart disease manifests itself.
Implications for the Future
If this finding is utilized in clinical settings, changes in sphericity could serve as an early indication of an individual’s progression toward developing heart problems.
However, Clarke emphasized that a higher degree of sphericity doesn’t necessarily mean a serious heart condition is imminent. It’s just a marker for people who are at higher risk, and other factors could be at play.
The study’s findings also suggest that there’s more information in current medical imaging than what’s currently being used, which could prove useful for future research.
The study also highlighted the lack of racial diversity in large biobanks, such as the UK Biobank. This is a problem that will need to be addressed in order to ensure the relevance of future research to all racial groups.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and scientists find new ways to heal heart muscle.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer, and results showing how COVID-19 damages the heart.
The study was published in Med.
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