A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram

Abstract Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet blood pressure is measured intermittently and under suboptimal conditions. We developed a deep learning model to identify hypertension and stratify risk of CVD using 12-lead electrocardiogram waveforms. HTN-AI was tra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mostafa A. Al-Alusi, Samuel F. Friedman, Shinwan Kany, Joel T. Rämö, Daniel Pipilas, Pulkit Singh, Christopher Reeder, Shaan Khurshid, James P. Pirruccello, Mahnaz Maddah, Jennifer E. Ho, Patrick T. Ellinor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-02-01
Series:npj Digital Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01491-8
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849723981474562048
author Mostafa A. Al-Alusi
Samuel F. Friedman
Shinwan Kany
Joel T. Rämö
Daniel Pipilas
Pulkit Singh
Christopher Reeder
Shaan Khurshid
James P. Pirruccello
Mahnaz Maddah
Jennifer E. Ho
Patrick T. Ellinor
author_facet Mostafa A. Al-Alusi
Samuel F. Friedman
Shinwan Kany
Joel T. Rämö
Daniel Pipilas
Pulkit Singh
Christopher Reeder
Shaan Khurshid
James P. Pirruccello
Mahnaz Maddah
Jennifer E. Ho
Patrick T. Ellinor
author_sort Mostafa A. Al-Alusi
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet blood pressure is measured intermittently and under suboptimal conditions. We developed a deep learning model to identify hypertension and stratify risk of CVD using 12-lead electrocardiogram waveforms. HTN-AI was trained to detect hypertension using 752,415 electrocardiograms from 103,405 adults at Massachusetts General Hospital. We externally validated HTN-AI and demonstrated associations between HTN-AI risk and incident CVD in 56,760 adults at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. HTN-AI accurately discriminated hypertension (internal and external validation AUROC 0.803 and 0.771, respectively). In Fine-Gray regression analyses model-predicted probability of hypertension was associated with mortality (hazard ratio per standard deviation: 1.47 [1.36-1.60], p < 0.001), HF (2.26 [1.90-2.69], p < 0.001), MI (1.87 [1.69-2.07], p < 0.001), stroke (1.30 [1.18-1.44], p < 0.001), and aortic dissection or rupture (1.69 [1.22-2.35], p < 0.001) after adjustment for demographics and risk factors. HTN-AI may facilitate diagnosis of hypertension and serve as a digital biomarker of hypertension-associated CVD.
format Article
id doaj-art-e87f993275da4913a4915ae66da0e26f
institution DOAJ
issn 2398-6352
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Digital Medicine
spelling doaj-art-e87f993275da4913a4915ae66da0e26f2025-08-20T03:10:52ZengNature Portfolionpj Digital Medicine2398-63522025-02-01811910.1038/s41746-025-01491-8A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogramMostafa A. Al-Alusi0Samuel F. Friedman1Shinwan Kany2Joel T. Rämö3Daniel Pipilas4Pulkit Singh5Christopher Reeder6Shaan Khurshid7James P. Pirruccello8Mahnaz Maddah9Jennifer E. Ho10Patrick T. Ellinor11Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General HospitalCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiology Division, Massachusetts General HospitalCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiology Division, Massachusetts General HospitalCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCardiology Division, Massachusetts General HospitalAbstract Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet blood pressure is measured intermittently and under suboptimal conditions. We developed a deep learning model to identify hypertension and stratify risk of CVD using 12-lead electrocardiogram waveforms. HTN-AI was trained to detect hypertension using 752,415 electrocardiograms from 103,405 adults at Massachusetts General Hospital. We externally validated HTN-AI and demonstrated associations between HTN-AI risk and incident CVD in 56,760 adults at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. HTN-AI accurately discriminated hypertension (internal and external validation AUROC 0.803 and 0.771, respectively). In Fine-Gray regression analyses model-predicted probability of hypertension was associated with mortality (hazard ratio per standard deviation: 1.47 [1.36-1.60], p < 0.001), HF (2.26 [1.90-2.69], p < 0.001), MI (1.87 [1.69-2.07], p < 0.001), stroke (1.30 [1.18-1.44], p < 0.001), and aortic dissection or rupture (1.69 [1.22-2.35], p < 0.001) after adjustment for demographics and risk factors. HTN-AI may facilitate diagnosis of hypertension and serve as a digital biomarker of hypertension-associated CVD.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01491-8
spellingShingle Mostafa A. Al-Alusi
Samuel F. Friedman
Shinwan Kany
Joel T. Rämö
Daniel Pipilas
Pulkit Singh
Christopher Reeder
Shaan Khurshid
James P. Pirruccello
Mahnaz Maddah
Jennifer E. Ho
Patrick T. Ellinor
A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
npj Digital Medicine
title A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
title_full A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
title_fullStr A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
title_full_unstemmed A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
title_short A deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
title_sort deep learning digital biomarker to detect hypertension and stratify cardiovascular risk from the electrocardiogram
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01491-8
work_keys_str_mv AT mostafaaalalusi adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT samuelffriedman adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT shinwankany adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT joeltramo adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT danielpipilas adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT pulkitsingh adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT christopherreeder adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT shaankhurshid adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT jamesppirruccello adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT mahnazmaddah adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT jennifereho adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT patricktellinor adeeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT mostafaaalalusi deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT samuelffriedman deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT shinwankany deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT joeltramo deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT danielpipilas deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT pulkitsingh deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT christopherreeder deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT shaankhurshid deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT jamesppirruccello deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT mahnazmaddah deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT jennifereho deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram
AT patricktellinor deeplearningdigitalbiomarkertodetecthypertensionandstratifycardiovascularriskfromtheelectrocardiogram