Estimation of Biological Heart Age Using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Radiomics

The study developed a model to estimate biological heart age using cardiovascular magnetic resonance radiomics in a large cohort of 32,121 UK Biobank participants without cardiovascular disease. It identified obesity, adverse serum lipid markers, hypertension, diabetes, and other health factors as strong correlates of heart aging, with notable differences between men and women. The "heart age delta" was introduced as a measure of heart aging, and the study found that obesity, particularly visceral and central obesity, was strongly linked to accelerated heart aging. The research highlighted the importance of body composition, lifestyle, mental wellbeing, and socio-economic factors in influencing heart aging. However, the study noted limitations, such as the lack of ethnic diversity in the dataset, and called for further research to validate the model's predictive value for cardiovascular events.