Fatty plaque buildup inside artery walls is associated with coronary artery disease. Lipid-rich, large plaques are prone to rupture. Most heart attacks are brought on by the rupture of these plaques. However, it is hard to tell which plaques will burst.
A study published in the Radiology journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has shown that the radiomics approach can predict cardiac events like heart attacks.
Radiomics enables the extraction of measurable data from CT images, revealing disease characteristics that are not discernible from the images alone.
299 patients helped them construct the model. Then, 708 individuals with probable coronary artery disease were included in the study.
The model made it possible to identify risky plaques, which are linked to an elevated risk of significant adverse cardiac events such as heart attacks. A median of three years of follow-up showed that these events were linked to a high radiomic signature.
The findings of the study “are encouraging and exciting,” remarks co-lead author Long Jiang Zhang. “Radiomics provided a more accurate approach to detect vulnerable plaques compared to conventional coronary CT angiography anatomical parameters.”
According to Dr. Zhang, incorporating the radiomic signature into clinical practice would be simple. It might identify vulnerable plaques and stratify high-risk individuals in the clinic.
“If the radiomics analysis is embedded into the routine CT angiography workstation, it can automatically identify vulnerable plaques for clinician review,” Dr. Zhang adds. “Thus, radiomics may significantly improve the accuracy and precision of high-risk plaque detection in routine clinical practice.”
The researchers want to make a radiomics model using different types of scanners from different companies. They also want to do a bigger study with 10,000 people from different centers.
The radiomics technique “may help guide clinical decision-making and improve patient care in the future with the support of large observational studies and randomized controlled trials,” adds Dr. Zhang.
Image Credit: RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA