---
title: AI Study Links Hidden Spleen Features to Higher Heart Disease Risk
description: AI analysis of abdominal scans tied hidden spleen features to coronary artery disease risk, a heart-spleen axis that is early science and needs more study.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-09-10T15:48:28.915Z
updated: 2026-09-10T15:48:28.927Z
canonical: https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/spleen-features-heart-disease-risk-ai-study
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/spleen-heart-disease-mgb-team-276921.webp
categories: Longevity & Science
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: Rich Health Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

Doctors can now lower LDL cholesterol very effectively, and yet many people still develop coronary artery disease. A new study points to one possible explanation for that leftover risk, in an organ rarely discussed in heart medicine: the spleen. Investigators led by Mass General Brigham reported that certain features hidden inside routine abdominal imaging of the spleen are associated with a person's risk of coronary artery disease, and that some of the same genetics sit behind both. The work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine.

"Great advances have been made against the classical risk factors for CAD. LDL cholesterol can be lowered very effectively today, for example, yet substantial residual risk remains, and CAD is still the world's leading cause of death," said co-senior author Zhi Yu, MB, PhD, of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine at Mass General Brigham. The researchers set out to investigate that gap, between what current treatment controls and who still gets sick.

## The Spleen Sits Inside the Blood-Forming System Tied to Heart Disease

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