The Treatment of PAD and the Role of AI
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Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands
Kak Khee Yeung, MD, vascular surgeon and research director of vascular surgery at Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands, gave a presentation at ISET 2025 that explored the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The discussion covered disease burden, AI-driven prediction models, and ongoing research initiatives aimed at improving patient outcomes through personalized risk assessment and treatment strategies.
Dr Yeung reviewed the burden of PAD, which affects 5.6% of people over age 25 globally, with high rates of cardiovascular ischemic events and adverse limb events. One-year mortality for PAD patients with adverse limb events is 20%, highlighting the need for early intervention. Current diagnostic methods lack predictive capability, leading to suboptimal treatment decisions. Dr Yeung suggested that AI-based tools can provide personalized risk assessment, guiding early intervention strategies to prevent severe complications.
One European research initiative, the VASCUL-AID Project: AI-Driven Disease Prediction, involved 16 partners across 9 countries, and combines clinical data, medical imaging, genomics, and lifestyle factors to predict disease progression. Key features include a risk-prediction tool for PAD progression, automatic image analysis of vascular structures, and personalized prevention strategies based on multimodal data.
Deep learning models predict amputation risk and survival post-revascularization. Key predictors identified through AI analysis include age, clinical disease stage, antithrombotic drug use, type of surgery, and creatinine levels. Machine learning models achieved a C-index of 0.71, indicating strong predictive performance.
Dr Yeung also spoke about AI-based imaging tools, which can enhance diagnostic accuracy, identifying high-risk vascular lesions before critical events occur; and lipidomic profiling, which reveals unique PAD vs. AAA signatures, paving the way for biomarker-driven therapies in vascular disease management.
