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World Heart Day: Every Beat Counts

Published on 15 September 2026

World Heart Day is celebrated every year on September 29. At Keymaging, we’ve decided to highlight this topic throughout the month with a key message: “Every beat counts.”

Cardiovascular diseases are indeed a major public health issue and affect millions of people around the world. According to the World Heart Federation, one in three people dies from a cardiovascular disease, and one in five dies from it prematurely. An opportunity to highlight the importance of prevention, screening, and appropriate care for maintaining cardiovascular health.

Because every heart matters. And every beat counts.

What are cardiovascular diseases?

Cardiovascular diseases encompass a group of conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. They can affect different parts of the cardiovascular system and have various causes.

The main cardiovascular diseases include:

  • Ischaemic heart disease, which affect the blood vessels supplying the heart, particularly the coronary arteries. In particular, they can lead to a heart attack.
  • Cerebrovascular diseases, which affect the blood vessels supplying the brain and can, in particular, lead to a stroke.
  • Rheumatic heart disease, which can damage the heart muscle and valves as a result of acute rheumatic fever.
  • Congenital heart defects, which are abnormalities of the heart present from birth and which may affect its development or function.
  • Deep vein thrombosis, which occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs.
  • Pulmonary embolisms, which can occur when a blood clot – particularly one resulting from deep vein thrombosis – breaks away and travels to the lungs.

Cardiovascular diseases therefore do not only affect the heart. They can also affect the arteries, veins and blood vessels that supply the brain or the lungs.

Prevention

According to the French Cardiology Federation, nearly 80 per cent of cardiovascular diseases could be prevented through a healthier lifestyle. There are several simple habits that can be adopted as part of your daily routine:

  • to follow a balanced, varied diet that is tailored to the body’s needs;
  • take part in regular physical activity, in line with one’s abilities;
  • ensure the quality and duration of sleep;
  • to minimise stress and look after your wellbeing on a daily basis;
  • avoid smoking and limit alcohol consumption.

These habits help to reduce the main cardiovascular risk factors and maintain long-term heart health.

Prevention also relies on regular medical check-ups, which enable certain risk factors – such as blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels – to be monitored and managed.

The role of Keymaging

At Keymaging, we firmly believe that prevention remains one of the best ways to combat cardiovascular disease. That is the essence of our message: “Every beat counts”. However, in certain situations, cardiac imaging can also play an important role in the assessment and detection of certain cardiovascular diseases. A cardiac CT scan, particularly a coronary CT scan, enables the coronary arteries to be examined and, depending on the protocol used, allows calcifications or signs suggestive of coronary heart disease to be identified.

Imaging is not a substitute for prevention: it complements it by providing valuable information to assess the patient’s condition and help guide their care.

At Keymaging, we support radiologists in their day-to-day practice by providing structured, guided reports. In the field of cardiac healthcare, we offer, in particular, coronary CT angiography reports using the CAD-RADS classification.

Our reports help to ensure that information is comprehensive and promote the clear, accurate and consistent communication of findings. They provide radiologists with a structured framework for their reports, thereby supporting optimal patient care.

So that every beat counts, and every detail counts too.

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