1. Artificial intelligence-enhanced automation of left ventricular diastolic assessment: a pilot study for feasibility, diagnostic validation, and outcome prediction.
- Author
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Park J, Jeon J, Yoon YE, Jang Y, Kim J, Jeong D, Lee J, Hong Y, Ha S, Reza A, Park HB, Lee SA, Choi H, Choi HM, Hwang IC, Cho GY, and Chang HJ
- Abstract
Background: Evaluating left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) is crucial in echocardiography; however, the complexity and time demands of current guidelines challenge clinical use. This study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based framework for automatic LVDF assessment to reduce subjectivity and improve accuracy and outcome prediction., Methods: We developed an AI-based LVDF assessment framework using a nationwide echocardiographic dataset from five tertiary hospitals. This framework automatically identifies views, calculates diastolic parameters, including mitral inflow and annular velocities (E/A ratio, e' velocity, and E/e' ratio), maximal tricuspid regurgitation velocity, left atrial (LA) volume index, and left atrial reservoir strain (LARS). Subsequently, it grades LVDF according to guidelines. The AI-framework was validated on an external dataset composed of randomly screened 173 outpatients who underwent transthoracic echocardiography with suspicion for diastolic dysfunction and 33 individuals from medical check-ups with normal echocardiograms at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, tertiary medical center in Korea, between May 2012 and June 2022. Additionally, we assessed the predictive value of AI-derived diastolic parameters and LVDF grades for a clinical endpoint, defined as a composite of all-cause death and hospitalization for heart failure, using Cox-regression risk modelling., Results: In an evaluation with 200 echocardiographic examinations (167 suspected diastolic dysfunction patients, 33 controls), it achieves an overall accuracy of 99.1% in identifying necessary views. Strong correlations (Pearson coefficient 0.901-0.959) were observed between AI-derived and manually-derived measurements of diastolic parameters, including LARS as well as conventional parameters. When following the guidelines, whether utilizing AI-derived or manually-derived parameters, the evaluation of LVDF consistently showed high concordance rates (94%). However, both methods exhibited lower concordance rates with the clinician's prior assessments (77.5% and 78.5%, respectively). Importantly, both AI-derived and manually-derived LVDF grades independently demonstrated significant prognostic value [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) =3.03; P=0.03 and adjusted HR =2.75; P=0.04, respectively] for predicting clinical outcome. In contrast, the clinician's prior grading lost its significance as a prognostic indicator after adjusting for clinical risk factors (adjusted HR =1.63; P=0.36). AI-derived LARS values significantly decreased with worsening LVDF (P for trend <0.001), and low LARS (<17%) was associated with increased risk for the clinical outcome (Log-rank P=0.04) relative to that for preserved LARS (≥17%)., Conclusions: Our AI-based approach for automatic LVDF assessment on echocardiography is feasible, potentially enhancing clinical diagnosis and outcome prediction., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://cdt.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/cdt-24-25/coif). Y.E.Y. is Chief Medical Officer of Ontact Health, Inc. J.J., Y.J., Y.H., S.H., and S.A.L. are currently affiliated with Ontact Health, Inc. J.J. and J.K. are co-inventors on a patent related to this work filed by Ontact Health (Method And Device For Acquiring Information From Temporal Information Represented Medical Images; Method Of Acquiring Information From Temporal Information Represented Medical Images And Device For The Same). J.J., J.K., and S.H. are co-inventors on a patent related to this work filed by Ontact Health (Method And Device For Providing Information On Ultrasound Image View Based On Out-Of-Distribution Data Detection). Y.J., Y.H., and S.H. are co-inventors on a patent related to this work filed by Ontact Health (Method For Providing Information Of Organ Function And Device For Providing Information Of Organ Function Using The Same). H.J.C. holds stock in Ontact Health, Inc. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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