Abstract
This study aimed to explore the feasibility of ultrasound radiomics analysis before invasive coronary angiography (ICA) for evaluating the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) quantified by the SYNTAX score (SS). This study included 105 carotid plaques from 105 patients (64 low-SS patients, 41 intermediate-high-SS patients). The clinical characteristics and three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) features before ICA were assessed. Ultrasound images of carotid plaques were used for radiomics analysis. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, which generated several nonzero coefficients, was used to select features that could predict intermediate-high SS. Based on those coefficients, the radiomics score (Rad-score) was calculated. The selected clinical characteristics, 3D-US features, and Rad-score were finally integrated into a radiomics nomogram. Among the clinical characteristics and 3D-US features, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), apolipoprotein B (Apo B), and plaque volume were identified as predictors for distinguishing between low SS and intermediate-high SS. During the radiomics process, 8 optimal radiomics features most capable of identifying intermediate-high SS were selected from 851 candidate radiomics features. The differences in Rad-score between the training and the validation set were significant (p = 0.016 and 0.006). The radiomics nomogram integrating HDL, Apo B, plaque volume, and Rad-score showed excellent results in the training set (AUC, 0.741 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.646–0.835)) and validation set (AUC, 0.939 (95% CI: 0.860–1.000)), with good calibration (mean absolute errors of 0.028 and 0.059 in training and validation sets, respectively). Decision curve analysis showed that the radiomics nomogram could identify patients who could obtain the most benefit. We concluded that the radiomics nomogram based on carotid plaque ultrasound has favorable value for the noninvasive prediction of intermediate-high SS. This radiomics nomogram has potential value for the risk stratification of CAD before ICA and provides clinicians with a noninvasive diagnostic tool.
Highlights
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.As the main cause of death in developed and developing countries, coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the narrowing or blocking of the lumen of vessels, has brought considerable economic and health burdens to the global population
The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1 patients whose identification of the internal structure of the plaque was affected by the posterior acoustic shadow of the hyperechogenic plaques of the carotid artery (N = 2); 2 patients whose 3D-US resolution of the extremely hypoechoic plaque was insufficient to discern the boundary of the plaque, which affected the extraction of the corresponding 3D-US features (N = 6); 3 patients whose outlines of the plaques were affected by thick subcutaneous soft tissue in the neck, which affected the display of the plaque (N = 5); 4 patients who underwent previous coronary artery stenting (N = 2)
By using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, we selected two features (HDL and apolipoprotein B (Apo B)) from the clinical features that had the ability to predict the characteristics of CAD risk stratification (Table 2)
Summary
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.As the main cause of death in developed and developing countries, coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the narrowing or blocking of the lumen of vessels, has brought considerable economic and health burdens to the global population. In the management process of patients with CAD, identifying the severity of coronary artery narrowing and selecting the appropriate treatment measures are essential [1]. Patients with suspected coronary artery dysfunction; it can clarify the presence or absence of coronary artery stenosis and determine the anatomy and characteristics of the coronary lesion, such as the location, degree, and extent of stenosis [2]. This invasive process, has many negative effects on patients, such as high radiation exposure, considerable costs, and formation of pseudoaneurysms. In clinical practice, there is a lack of a completely noninvasive tool to assess CAD
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