What cardiac insights are hiding in millions of routine chest CTs?

ESC 2026 · 10 Scientific Presentations · Oral & Poster · 6/10

CT vs. Echo: Unlocking More From Existing Imaging

Approximately 19 million non-gated chest (lung) CT scans are performed in the U.S. each year for a wide range of clinical indications. These scans are not primarily acquired to evaluate cardiovascular disease - but could AI unlock cardiovascular information already captured within them?

At ESC Congress 2026, HeartLung.AI presented a study comparing AI-derived cardiac chamber volumetry from routine non-gated chest CT with echocardiography.

The study included 1,675 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) who underwent both non-contrast, non-gated chest CT and echocardiography.

Researchers evaluated whether AI-derived cardiac chamber measurements from CT could provide meaningful information related to:

• Heart failure

• Atrial fibrillation

• Cardiac chamber volumes

• Long-term cardiovascular outcomes

• 
  

The study directly compared the discrimination and prognostic value of CT-derived versus echocardiographic measurements for heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Routine lung CT contains more than lung information.

With AI-enabled cardiac chamber volumetry, imaging already being performed for other clinical indications may offer an opportunity to extract additional cardiovascular insights - without requiring a dedicated cardiac CT acquisition.

📍 To be presented at ESC Congress 2026 · Munich

By Seyed Reza Mirjalili, MD

Download the full presentation below to explore the CT-versus-echocardiography comparisons, study results, and potential clinical implications. 

ESC CT vs Echo (2).pptx

Download PPTX • 6.71MB