AI PROGRAM DETECTING HEART DISEASE

[Anchor Lead]

Stroke is the leading cause of death. Many stroke patients have underlying heart-related disorders that they are unaware of. Korean doctors have developed an artificial intelligence program that can accurately detect heart disease in stroke patients.

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This man in his 60s sought medical help because of sudden muscle weakness in his left leg and arm. Some of his cerebral cells have died due to the blockage of arteries in his right brain. He was diagnosed with cerebral infarction. A test also revealed that more than 70 percent of his coronary arteries were blocked. The patient will soon undergo a stent surgery to prevent a heart attack.

[Soundbite] Lee Jin-ho(Cerebral infarction patient) : "I had no idea I had this condition. The doctor recommended that I take a CT scan, which revealed I had a cardiovascular disease."

Stroke and heart-related conditions, together known as cardiovascular diseases, often occur concurrently. Both are caused by hardening of the arteries. Every year about two percent of cerebral infarction patients develop acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack. It's the leading cause of sudden death. Detecting it in advance is vital. This is usually done by performing CT scans, but exposure to radiation, the adverse effects of contrast mediums, and the high cost of testing are concerns for many patients. Korean doctors have developed an artificial intelligence program that can easily predict the risk of heart disease in cerebral infarction patients. All that the program needs is the patient's age, type of cerebral infarction and condition of cerebral vessels. With its accuracy rate reaching 80 percent, it can assess the risk even more accurately than neurologists.

[Soundbite] Prof. Nam Hyo-seok(Severance Hospital) : "Doctors can predict the possibility of heart disease with 60 percent accuracy using patients' charts. But this AI program can detect coronary artery disease using even less data."

The swift and accurate AI diagnostic technology is expected to help prevent heart attacks in cerebral infarction patients.