Thymic health predicts adult survival

Can a routine chest scan reveal which adults face very different long-term risks of death? Researchers used a deep-learning system, a program fixed before testing, to measure soft tissue in the thymus, the immune organ behind the breastbone, on 27,612 adult computed-tomography scans. Over 12 years, adults with high thymic-health scores had lower all-cause mortality: 13.4% versus 25.5% in one cohort and 3.9% versus 14.5% in another. The second cohort's result did not remain significant after accounting for age, sex, smoking and other illness. Higher scores also tracked with lower lung-cancer risk in the first cohort and fewer new cardiovascular events in the second. These associations identify an imaging marker of adult thymic tissue, rather than proving that the tissue itself causes healthier ageing.