TOPLINE:

Heart MRI and routine health checks revealed previously unknown cardiac, noncardiac, and other clinical issues in 89% of adults aged 75-77 years, with some requiring immediate follow-up.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective study of a long-running British birth cohort to identify any unknown findings on cardiovascular MRI in older adults.
• They included 484 participants aged 75-77 years between 2020 and 2024 who completed the full scan protocol (44% women).
• Participants underwent a 45-minute contrast-enhanced cardiovascular MRI and routine clinical assessments including blood pressure and blood tests.
• The primary outcome was the presence of incidental findings, classified as cardiac, noncardiac, and clinical and graded as routine (reported within 28 days) or immediate (reported within 48 hours).
• Participants and their physicians received written reports. Immediate findings prompted phone contact and rapid referrals to clinical services when required.

TAKEAWAY:

• Researchers identified at least one incidental finding in 89% of participants, with 12% requiring immediate reporting. Men were more likely than women to have any incidental finding (92% vs 85%; P = .018) and cardiac findings (77% vs 59%; P < .0001).
• Cardiac abnormalities were present in 69% of participants. Of these, 43% had late gadolinium enhancement (indicating scarring in the heart muscle), and 7% had stress-induced perfusion defects.
• Noncardiac findings were present in 42% of participants. Of these, 49% had renal cysts and 11% had thyroid nodules.
• Researchers recorded clinical abnormalities in 42% of participants. Some participants required urgent care for issues such as very high blood pressure or a new atrial fibrillation; however, many others had routine findings such as mildly high blood pressure.

IN PRACTICE:

“As advanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance becomes increasingly used in routine clinical practice, these findings inform not only consent and disclosure processes but also the development of structured clinical reporting standards, referral thresholds, and multidisciplinary review pathways to ensure that clinically meaningful abnormalities are identified and appropriately communicated,” the researchers of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Matthew Webber, PhD, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, England. It was published online on March 05, 2026, in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

LIMITATIONS:

All participants were White and born in the same week in 1946. Participants who survived and chose to participate were healthier and more involved in healthcare.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received funding from the British Heart Foundation and the Medical Research Council. One author reported serving as the chief executive officer of MyCardium AI and on the advisory boards for Genzyme and Sanofi. Several other authors reported receiving funds, consultancy fees, and grants from and holding shares or key roles in various pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and societies.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.