The Promising Role of Artificial Intelligence in Aorta Aneurysms: An Aid not a Surrogate in Clinical Management

Aortic aneurysms (AAs), both abdominal and thoracic, remain one of the most fatal cardiovascular emergencies, with a growing prevalence and incidence, especially for sporadic forms in our populations, which are primarily comprised of elderly individuals. A high mortality risk also appears to be linked to managerial delays, despite advances in imaging techniques that facilitate the difficult diagnosis, and in surgical procedures. This is the result of the clinical decision-making approach, which is unfortunately still based, as per guidelines, on the maximum aortic diameter. This parameter, as suggested, fails to capture the biological and biomechanical complexity underlying these pathological conditions, which are influenced, among other things, by entirely individual factors (genetics, gender, lifestyle, etc.). With the emergence of network medicine and omics sciences, diverse and complex sets of clinical, imaging, and biomarker data are now available. These could be precisely processed by artificial intelligence (AI), enabling accurate prediction of AA risk and facilitating its complex management. Therefore, AI could represent an excellent tool for AAs, showing the potential not only to refine AA risk prediction but also to radically transform the way we understand, monitor, and manage AA patients, despite some limitations. These aspects are the subject of this review, as are their therapeutic applications.