The Cardiology Department at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center is launching an integrated project with the University of Haifa, additional medical centers, and the 'Kineret' initiative to develop a predictive model for life-threatening arrhythmias following an acute heart attack. This project aims to create a statistical tool combined with AI that will provide a numerical score indicating the likelihood of cardiac arrest and recommendation for the individual patient.
A new project is currently being developed in collaboration with the University of Haifa and other medical centers, including Shamir and the Galilee Medical Centers, along with the 'Kineret' initiative of the Governmental Hospital Division, to construct a model for predicting life-threatening arrhythmias after an acute heart attack.
Dr. Gilad Margolis, a senior physician in the Cardiology Department and a research partner, explains: "A heart attack results from a blockage of a coronary artery in the heart that prevents blood flow. The treatment involves catheterization to open the blockage. The problem is that as a result of the heart attack, certain areas of the heart muscle can be damaged due to prolonged lack of blood supply. Such damage can be identified using an echocardiogram - an ultrasound of the heart. This allows cardiologists to assess whether there is a decline in heart muscle function. Some patients who have been diagnosed with such damage to the heart muscle are at risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias and even cardiac arrest in the long term."
Left to Right: Prof. Ariel Roguin, Dr. Ofer Kobo, Dr. Sharon Rashi-Elkeles, Naama Amsalem, Dr. Gilad Margolis, Prof. Eran Leshem
After a heart attack, some patients recover optimally, while others do not. In those patients, non-functioning scar areas remain, which can lead to life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, sometimes reaching 200 beats per minute and even cardiac arrest.
Our model aims to predict which of the patients following a heart attack would benefit from the implantation of a defibrillator to prevent further events and cardiac arrest. The goal is to tailor the treatment to the disease characteristics and the individual patient. Unfortunately, the tools available to decide whether to perform preventive defibrillator implantation are limited, rely heavily on the echocardiogram result of cardiac function and based on imprecise estimates. Through collaboration with other centers, the Kinneret initiative, and the University of Haifa, we are developing a big data derived metric where each patient will receive a numerical score based on data collected using AI-based statistical tools. This will enable the medical team to make an informed and life-saving decision," explain Prof. Eran Leshem, Head of the Arrhythmia Unit, and Dr. Ofer Kobo, a senior physician in the Cardiology Department and research initiators.
Dr. Dikla Dahan Shariki, Deputy CEO of the Medical Center for Innovation and Research :"Tools like this represent the future of medicine. We have the privilege to be part of this research and to try and develop a tool that will be used by doctors globally, providing patients with better, more precise, and professional care along with a better quality of life. I am confident that this project, like many others, will bear fruit and serve the cardiology community. This is also an opportunity to thank Dr. Sharon Rashi-Elkeles, Head of the Innovation and Research Department, for pushing this project and many others forward."
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