Artificial intelligence could help doctors detect serious heart valve disease years earlier, potentially saving thousands of lives, a new study suggests.

A new Review examines the composition and function of immune cells within fluid-filled spaces in the body known as serous cavities. These include the peritoneal cavity (which encases abdominal organs such as the liver and spleen), the pleural cavity (which contains the lungs), and the pericardial cavity (which envelops the heart). James Parkinson and colleagues discuss the regulation of immune populations within the serous cavities during steady state and inflammation, including changes that occur during cancer and endometriosis. Furthermore, the authors highlight how immune cells can migrate from serous fluid to organs housed within the cavities, enabling both beneficial and harmful crosstalk between adjacent organs. “A deeper understanding of how the serous cavities provide immune protection to the tissues that they encompass is likely to reveal therapeutic avenues for manipulation of these cavities to improve disease outcomes,” Parkinson et al. write.