Aneurysms are a silent but deadly medical condition, characterized by a ballooning and weakened area in an artery.
These can occur in various parts of the body, including the aorta, brain, back of the knee, intestine, or spleen. A ruptured aneurysm can result in catastrophic internal bleeding, stroke, and can often be fatal. Despite their severity, aneurysms are frequently undiagnosed until it is too late, making early detection and intervention crucial.
What are Abdominal Aneurysms?
Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a particularly dangerous type of aneurysm. They occur when a segment of the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel, becomes enlarged.
This enlargement increases the risk of the aneurysm bursting, leading to severe internal bleeding. Unfortunately, symptoms of AAA are generally mild and easily overlooked, complicating early detection.
To address the challenges posed by AAAs, especially in women, researchers at UC Davis Health have leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to study and understand the growth patterns of these aneurysms in women. Their findings reveal critical insights into how these aneurysms develop differently in women compared to men.
The Increased Risk in Women
Research has shown that AAAs can grow faster in women and may require more rigorous surveillance. Despite this, they are often underdiagnosed and undertreated in women. The disparity in diagnosis and treatment has deadly consequences. Women face four times the risk of their aneurysms rupturing compared to men, even while under medical surveillance. When ruptures do occur, women are more likely to die.
New Insights from AI Technology
To better understand the unique risks women face, the UC Davis team used an AI technology called Illuminate, which employs natural language processing to analyze electronic health records and medical images. This technology helps identify aneurysms and track their growth over time.
The study, which reviewed images from 488 women, found that women’s aneurysms often grow faster, even when they are relatively small. Specifically, the risk for women increases significantly when their aneurysms reach 4.5 centimeters, whereas current clinical guidelines only raise concern at 5 centimeters.
Rethinking Clinical Guidelines
Dr. Misty Humphries, interim chief of Vascular Surgery at UC Davis Health and senior author of the study, emphasizes the need to revise current clinical guidelines.
He explains:
“The pattern of growth for women is different than it is for men. We need to think about intervening in women at different times than what we’re doing now based on the guidelines.”
The Role of AI and Collaboration in Future Research
The use of Artificial intelligence in this study highlights its potential to transform medical research and clinical practices. AI can re-evaluate existing scans and identify unique risks faced by women, providing a powerful tool to reassess and potentially revamp clinical guidelines.
Humphries and her team aim to gather more data to influence these guidelines further. Given the rarity of AAAs in women, compiling a large prospective study is challenging. However, AI technology can help analyze larger datasets from multiple institutions, offering a comprehensive view of growth patterns across a more extensive cohort of women.
“We’d love to collaborate with other institutions to pull all of their data and look at growth patterns over a much larger cohort,”.
Humphries says: “What we do now is based on size because women’s aneurysms change and grow differently. We really need to revamp the guidelines, and it’s going to take another study, looking at a larger group of women, to get it done.”
Integrating Everything
The integration of AI in medical research is paving the way for more precise and personalized healthcare. For conditions like abdominal aortic aneurysms, especially in women, AI offers hope for better diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.
As research continues, collaboration across institutions and the use of advanced technologies will be crucial in addressing the disparities in aneurysm care and ultimately saving lives.
