NCH Becomes First U.S. Hospital to Use AI That Detects Hidden Heart Attack Risk a Decade in Advance

• Landmark collaboration with Caristo Diagnostics positions NCH at the forefront of preventive cardiology
• NCH cardiologists to present collaboration plans at American Heart Association 2025 Scientific Sessions on Nov. 8

NAPLES, Fla. and STAMFORD, Conn. , Nov. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH) and Caristo Diagnostics announced that NCH Rooney Heart Institute has become the first hospital in the nation to use both CaRi-Plaque™ and CaRi-Heart®, two AI-powered imaging-based technologies that identify signs of heart disease and predict a patient's risk of heart attack up to 10 years before symptoms appear.

This collaboration marks a significant step forward in the use of artificial intelligence to prevent cardiovascular disease, shifting the focus from reacting to heart attacks to stopping them before they happen.

Caristo's FDA-cleared CaRi-Plaque™ technology analyzes coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans, the first-line test for patients with chest pain, to identify high-risk plaque that may lead to future heart attacks. CaRi-Heart™ is the only technology in the world able to detect and quantify coronary inflammation, an early driver of heart disease, without waiting for patients to develop visible plaque.

Current clinical pathways often fail to identify high risk patients by missing inflammatory disease activity and relying on plaque assessment alone. In fact, twice as many fatal and non-fatal cardiac events occur in patients without obstructive plaque on CCTA. A major breakthrough, CaRi-Heart™ technology provides a risk score to help doctors and patients understand the likelihood of a cardiac event up to 10 years in advance, even in the absence of visible plaque [Lancet, 2024]. The CaRi-Heart technology is widely used in Europe and currently under FDA review.

"This NCH-Caristo collaboration represents a new paradigm in cardiovascular medicine," said Dee Dee Wang, MD, Section Head of Cardiac Imaging at NCH Rooney Heart Institute. "Doctors are used to responding to cardiac events after they happen. Caristo has the first clinically validated AI solutions that let us prevent heart attacks a decade before they occur."

NCH is recognized by Healthgrades as one of America's Top 50 Hospitals and among the top three in Florida for cardiac care. Under the new collaboration every NCH Rooney Heart Institute patient who qualifies for plaque analysis will have their CCTA scan analyzed by CaRi-Plaque™. NCH will also deploy CaRi-Heart™ as part of a research program, giving physicians the ability to incorporate the inflammation-based risk score into treatment and outcomes research.

In addition, NCH is launching a new preventive heart health service for people who elect to proactively manage their health before any cardiac symptoms. This self-pay program allows anyone concerned about their heart health to be enrolled into the NCH-Caristo program.

"Patients will have the best opportunity to avert a heart attack here at NCH," said Carl E. Orringer, MD, Director of Preventive Cardiology, NCH Rooney Heart Institute. "This technology is built on world-class science and rigorous clinical research. It allows us to identify and address heart disease before it causes harm."

Meet NCH and Caristo at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

The collaboration coincides with Caristo Diagnostics' upcoming symposium at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2025, where experts including Drs. Orringer and Wang will discuss how imaging and AI are changing the way clinicians detect and manage coronary disease.

Caristo Sponsored – AHA 2025 Symposium
Title: Beyond stenosis: Integrating coronary inflammation and plaque detection in advanced cardiac care
Date: November 8, 2025
Time: 1:45–2:30 p.m.
Location: Learning Studio 2, New Orleans, Louisiana

Program Highlights:

• Latest advances in AI imaging technologies (plaque, perivascular fat inflammation, FFRct)
• New research comparing imaging-based inflammation (FAI-Score™) and blood-based (hsCRP) biomarkers
• Real-world results from U.S. hospitals integrating AI analysis of plaque and inflammation into cardiac care

Speakers:

• Prof. Jagat Narula, Executive Vice President, UTHealth Houston; President, World Heart Federation
• Prof. Charalambos Antoniades, University of Oxford (UK)
• Dr. Dee Dee Wang, NCH Rooney Heart Institute
• Dr. Carl E. Orringer, NCH Rooney Heart Institute
• Panel discussion and Q&A chaired by Prof. Narula

About Caristo Diagnostics

Caristo Diagnostics is a global leader in cardiovascular imaging and risk prediction, founded as a spin-out from the University of Oxford. Its award-winning technology helps detect hidden heart disease and identify people at risk of heart attack before symptoms appear. Working with leading hospitals, research institutions, and pharmaceutical partners, Caristo aims to save lives through early detection and personalized prevention. Learn more at www.caristo.com or follow Caristo on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and X.

About NCH

NCH (Naples Comprehensive Health) is an Advanced Community Healthcare System™ serving Southwest Florida with top-ranked hospitals, specialty care, and one of the largest provider networks in the region. Recognized by Healthgrades as one of America's Top 50 Hospitals and among the top three in Florida for cardiac care available at NCH Rooney Heart Institute, NCH delivers advanced medicine close to home. The system includes two hospitals with 713 beds and collaborations with the Hospital for Special Surgery, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, and others.
Visit www.NCHmd.org for more information.

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SOURCE CARISTO DIAGNOSTICS