(Press-News.org) Using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze electrocardiograms (ECG) improved detection of severe heart attacks, including those that presented with unconventional symptoms, or atypical ECG patterns, and reduced false positives, according to a study published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions and simultaneously presented at TCT 2025 in San Francisco.
ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a severe type of heart attack where a major coronary artery is blocked, preventing blood flow to the heart muscle. Quickly restoring blood flow, or reperfusion, using percutaneous coronary intervention is the standard of care; however, delays in achieving the guideline-recommended time to reperfusion still persist, especially at hospitals and centers not specializing in PCI and in rural areas. Time to reperfusion longer than 90 minutes is associated with threefold higher rates of mortality.
“AI-driven ECG interpretation can bring the best of both worlds – identify true heart attacks early while reducing unnecessary activations,” said Robert Herman, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and a cardiovascular researcher at AZORG Hospital in Aalst, Belgium. “Improving the accuracy of triage at the first medical contact can streamline emergency care, reduce fatigue and strain on clinical teams, and ensure that patients who truly need urgent intervention receive it without delay.”
In one of the first large, real-world evaluations of an AI–based ECG model for STEMI triage in the emergency setting, researchers retrospectively looked at 1,032 patients with suspected STEMI who triggered emergency reperfusion protocols. Data was from three geographically diverse primary PCI centers between January 2020 and May 2024. Each patient’s initial ECG underwent analysis by the STEMI AI ECG Model (Queen of Hearts) trained to detect acute coronary occlusion, including STEMI equivalents and differentiate from benign mimics.
Angiography and biomarkers confirmed that 601 (58%) were STEMIs and 431 (42%) were false positives. The AI ECG model did better than standard triage, detecting 553 of 601 confirmed STEMIs vs. 427 detected by standard triage on the initial ECG. AI ECG had a false positive rate of 7.9% vs. 41.8% for standard triage, representing a fivefold reduction.
“These results indicate that AI-enhanced STEMI diagnosis at the first medical contact has the potential to shorten time to treatment and reduce false activations,” said Timothy D. Henry, MD, FACC, senior author of the study, The Carl and Edyth Lindner Family Distinguished Chair in Clinical Research and Medical Director of The Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. “This technology may be especially valuable in optimizing the transfer of STEMI patients from non-PCI centers to ensure timely and appropriate care.”
In an accompanying editorial comment, Mohamad Alkhouli, MD, MBA, cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said the researchers should be “commended for developing an operational AI model aimed at addressing one of the most complex and error-prone aspects of interventional cardiology practice—STEMI activation.”
However, he emphasized that the AI model employed in the study should be interpreted with caution, as it was originally developed to detect occluded arteries rather than STEMI and necessitates further prospective validation across diverse patient populations.
“The true challenge is not proof of accuracy alone, but readiness—to integrate, regulate, and interpret AI as a complement to human judgment, particularly in high-stakes, time-sensitive clinical settings,” Alkhouli said.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is a global leader dedicated to transforming cardiovascular care and improving heart health for all. For more than 75 years, the ACC has empowered a community of over 60,000 cardiovascular professionals across more than 140 countries with cutting-edge education and advocacy, rigorous professional credentials, and trusted clinical guidance. From its world-class JACC Journals and NCDR registries to its Accreditation Services, global network of Chapters and Sections, and CardioSmart patient initiatives, the College is committed to creating a world where science, knowledge and innovation optimize patient care and outcomes. Learn more at www.ACC.org or connect on social media at @ACCinTouch.
The ACC’s JACC Journals rank among the top cardiovascular journals in the world for scientific impact. The flagship journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) — and specialty journals consisting of JACC: Advances, JACC: Asia, JACC: Basic to Translational Science, JACC: CardioOncology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, JACC: Case Reports, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and JACC: Heart Failure — pride themselves on publishing the top peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cardiovascular disease. Learn more at JACC.org.
###
END
A new study has revealed that the lasting effects of biochar depend strongly on the material it is made from, with straw-derived biochar offering clear advantages for maize productivity under limited-water conditions. The research, published in Biochar, shows that combining wheat-straw biochar with an alternate partial root-zone drying irrigation system can boost crop yield and resource efficiency for at least two growing seasons after a single biochar application.
Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced by heating plant residues, has long been ...
The distinctive coloured fur of two of Australia's rarest marsupials could be caused by 'broken' pigment genes, new research from La Trobe University has found.
The elusive desert-dwelling marsupial mole and the black-coated morph of the endangered eastern quoll are two of a growing number of marsupials showing common colour oddities.
In many species, colour oddities like melanism and xanthism are considered chromatic disorders and are detrimental to an animal’s survival.
But in research published ...
As global water resources face increasing pressure from industrial and agricultural activities, scientists are looking for innovative ways to clean and reuse wastewater sustainably. Researchers from Dalhousie University have now developed a simple and eco-friendly method to turn agricultural and forestry waste into powerful magnetic materials that can effectively remove toxic chemicals from water.
The study, published in Sustainable Carbon Materials, introduces magnetic carbon adsorbents made from two common waste ...
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) priorities are being skewed by its increasing reliance on donations from organisations such as the Gates Foundation (previously known as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), which must be spent on specific health challenges favoured by the donors, suggests a study published in the journal BMJ Global Health.
Between 2000 and 2024, more than half of the US $5.5 billion donated by the Gates Foundation to WHO was directed toward vaccine-related projects and polio, while relatively little funding was spent on other issues considered to be important by WHO.
The Gates Foundation has become the WHO’s second biggest ...
Around one in ten people worldwide report gastrointestinal and other symptoms such as fatigue and headache after eating foods containing gluten or wheat despite not having a diagnosis of either coeliac disease or wheat allergy, finds a large systematic review and meta-analysis published online in Gut.
These people have a condition known as non-coeliac gluten/wheat sensitivity (NCGWS), which appears to be more common in women and associated with irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression.
Symptoms of NCGWS tend to improve when gluten ...
As the saying goes, “The customer is always right.” With the proliferation of artificial intelligence in consumer-facing roles, however, that may not always be so. Some customers have figured out how to game AI chatbots, exaggerating their complaints to get bigger benefits, such as discounts.
On the plus side, however, AI customer service can help companies respond better to consumer complaints, saving money and reducing emotional burdens on human employees.
A new study by Yifan Yu, a Texas McCombs assistant professor of information, ...
A new approach to hospital discharges at UCLA reduced the time patients spent waiting to leave the hospital by nearly 50% for four common diagnoses and improved length of hospital stay by 2.5 days, according to a new pilot study at UCLA Health. Researchers say the standardized system could also serve as a case study for U.S. hospitals facing insufficient bed capacity and slow patient throughput.
In the study published in the journal BMJ Open Quality, the UCLA Health Ronald Reagan Medical Center implemented an 18-month discharge improvement test for four common neurological and medical conditions: transient ...
Sessions focused on the latest advances in cancer vaccines, immunotherapy and immunology research
Symposium featured a panel discussion with five Nobel laureates, moderated by TIME Senior Health Correspondent Alice Park
HOUSTON, OCTOBER 28, 2025 ― The James P. Allison Institute™ at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center hosted its third annual scientific symposium, “The Multiverse of Mechanistic Processes Impacting Immunity,” on Oct. 24 at the TMC3 Collaborative Building in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park.
The symposium, with more than 1,500 attending in person and ...
SETI Institute Accelerates the Search for Life Beyond Earth with NVIDIA IGX Thor
The new enterprise-ready NVIDIA IGX Thor platform brings real-time AI processing to the Allen Telescope Array, helping scientists detect signals from space faster than ever.
October 28, 2025, Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute announced that it will incorporate the new NVIDIA IGX Thor platform to enhance its real-time search for signals from space at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in Northern California. The collaboration brings cutting-edge ...
URBANA, Ill. – Wetlands are an important part of the ecological system, providing a myriad of benefits for people, wildlife, and the environment. They also serve as “nature’s kidneys,” filtering out pollutants from surface water. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds that wetlands along the Mississippi River Basin effectively clean up nitrogen runoff from agricultural fields. The researchers also show this can lead to significant savings for local drinking water treatment facilities.
Non-point source pollution from ...
