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Improved long-term prognostic value of coronary CT angiography-derived plaque measures and clinical parameters on adverse cardiac outcome using machine learning

  • Cardiac
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Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate the long-term prognostic value of coronary CT angiography (cCTA)-derived plaque measures and clinical parameters on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) using machine learning (ML).

Methods

Datasets of 361 patients (61.9 ± 10.3 years, 65% male) with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent cCTA were retrospectively analyzed. MACE was recorded. cCTA-derived adverse plaque features and conventional CT risk scores together with cardiovascular risk factors were provided to a ML model to predict MACE. A boosted ensemble algorithm (RUSBoost) utilizing decision trees as weak learners with repeated nested cross-validation to train and validate the model was used. Performance of the ML model was calculated using the area under the curve (AUC).

Results

MACE was observed in 31 patients (8.6%) after a median follow-up of 5.4 years. Discriminatory power was significantly higher for the ML model (AUC 0.96 [95%CI 0.93–0.98]) compared with conventional CT risk scores including Agatston calcium score (AUC 0.84 [95%CI 0.80–0.87]), segment involvement score (AUC 0.88 [95%CI 0.84–0.91]), and segment stenosis score (AUC 0.89 [95%CI 0.86–0.92], all p < 0.05). Similar results were shown for adverse plaque measures (AUCs 0.72–0.82, all p < 0.05) and clinical parameters including the Framingham risk score (AUCs 0.71–0.76, all p < 0.05). The ML model yielded significantly higher diagnostic performance compared with logistic regression analysis (AUC 0.96 vs. 0.92, p = 0.024).

Conclusion

Integration of a ML model improves the long-term prediction of MACE when compared with conventional CT risk scores, adverse plaque measures, and clinical information. ML algorithms may improve the integration of patient’s information to enhance risk stratification.

Key Points

• A machine learning (ML) model portends high discriminatory power to predict major adverse cardiac events (MACE).

• ML-based risk stratification shows superior diagnostic performance for MACE prediction over coronary CT angiography (cCTA)-derived risk scores or clinical parameters alone.

• A ML model outperforms conventional logistic regression analysis for the prediction of MACE.

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Abbreviations

AUC:

Area under the curve

CAD:

Coronary artery disease

cCTA:

Coronary CT angiography

CV:

Cross-validation

ICA:

Invasive coronary angiography

MACE:

Major adverse cardiac events

ML:

Machine learning

NPV:

Negative predictive value

NSTEMI:

Non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

PPV:

Positive predictive value

RI:

Remodeling Index

ROC:

Receiver-operating characteristics

STEMI:

ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

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Funding

No funding was received.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Christian Tesche and Maximilian J. Bauer contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Heart Center Munich-Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany

    Christian Tesche, Maximilian J. Bauer, Benedikt Hedels, Florian Straube, Stefan Hartl, Theresia Aschauer, Sebastian Rogowski, Ellen Hoffmann & Ullrich Ebersberger

  2. Department of Cardiology, Munich University Clinic, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany

    Christian Tesche, Moritz Baquet, David Jochheim, Steffen Massberg & Ullrich Ebersberger

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiology, St. Johannes Hospital, Johannesstrasse 9-13, 44137, Dortmund, Germany

    Christian Tesche

  4. Division of Cardiovascular Imaging, Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Christian Tesche, Maximilian J. Bauer, Hunter N. Gray & U. Joseph Schoepf

  5. Division of Cardiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    U. Joseph Schoepf

  6. Kardiologie MVZ München-Nord, Munich, Germany

    Ullrich Ebersberger

Authors
  1. Christian Tesche
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  2. Maximilian J. Bauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Tesche.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Dr. Christian Tesche.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare relationships with the following companies:

Dr. Schoepf receives institutional research support and/or honoraria for speaking and consulting from Astellas, Bayer, Bracco, Elucid BioImaging, Guerbet, HeartFlow Inc., and Siemens Healthineers. Dr. Tesche has received speaker’s fees from Siemens Healthineers and Heartflow Inc. The other authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

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No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

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• retrospective

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Tesche, C., Bauer, M.J., Baquet, M. et al. Improved long-term prognostic value of coronary CT angiography-derived plaque measures and clinical parameters on adverse cardiac outcome using machine learning. Eur Radiol 31, 486–493 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-020-07083-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-020-07083-2

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