Using radiomics to predict future cardiac events

According to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Radiomics allows researchers to extract quantitative or measurable data from CT images that can reveal features of disease that are not visible on the images alone.

Coronary artery disease is linked to fatty plaque deposits that build up inside the walls of the arteries. Large, lipid-rich plaques are vulnerable to rupture. Rupture of these plaques causes most heart attacks. However, it is difficult to predict which plaques will rupture.

Researchers in China have developed a radiomics model that uses information from coronary angiography images to assess plaque vulnerability. They developed the model in 299 patients. They then studied the approach in 708 patients with suspected coronary heart disease.

The model allowed the detection of vulnerable plaques associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiac events such as heart attacks. An elevated radiomic signature was independently associated with these events over a median follow-up of three years.

The results of this study are encouraging and exciting. Radiomics provided a more accurate approach to detecting vulnerable plaques compared to conventional anatomical parameters of coronary angiography.”

Long Jiang Zhang, MD, Ph.D., Study Co-Lead Author, Department of Radiology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine in Nanjing, China

The radiomic signature would be easy to add to clinical practice, Dr. Zhang said. In the clinic, it could assess potentially vulnerable plaques and help stratify high-risk patients.

“If radiomic analysis is integrated into the routine CT angiography workstation, it can automatically identify vulnerable plaques for clinician review,” Dr. Zhang said. “Thus, radiomics can significantly improve the accuracy and precision of detecting high-risk plaques in routine clinical practice.”

The researchers intend to build a radiomics model from different types of scanners and vendors. They are also planning a larger multicenter study of 10,000 patients.

“With the support of large observational studies and randomized controlled trials, the radiomics approach may help guide clinical decision-making and improve patient care in the future,” Dr. Zhang said.