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In Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine

OBJECTIVES : This study aimed to evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of machine learning (ML)- fractional flow reserve (FFR) based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) with wire-based FFR irrespective of the coronary territory.

BACKGROUND : ML techniques for assessing hemodynamics features including FFR in coronary artery disease have been developed based on various imaging modalities. However, there is no study using OCT-based ML models for all coronary artery territories.

METHODS : OCT and FFR data were obtained for 356 individual coronary lesions in 130 patients. The training and testing groups were divided in a ratio of 4:1. The ML-FFR was derived for the testing group and compared with the wire-based FFR in terms of the diagnosis of ischemia (FFR ≤ 0.80).

RESULTS : The mean age of the subjects was 62.6 years. The numbers of the left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary arteries were 130 (36.5%), 110 (30.9%), and 116 (32.6%), respectively. Using seven major features, the ML-FFR showed strong correlation (r = 0.8782, P < 0.001) with the wire-based FFR. The ML-FFR predicted wire-based FFR ≤ 0.80 in the test set with sensitivity of 98.3%, specificity of 61.5%, and overall accuracy of 91.7% (area under the curve: 0.948). External validation showed good correlation (r = 0.7884, P < 0.001) and accuracy of 83.2% (area under the curve: 0.912).

CONCLUSION : OCT-based ML-FFR showed good diagnostic performance in predicting FFR irrespective of the coronary territory. Because the study was a small-size study, the results should be warranted the performance in further large-scale research.

Cha Jung-Joon, Nguyen Ngoc-Luu, Tran Cong, Shin Won-Yong, Lee Seul-Gee, Lee Yong-Joon, Lee Seung-Jun, Hong Sung-Jin, Ahn Chul-Min, Kim Byeong-Keuk, Ko Young-Guk, Choi Donghoon, Hong Myeong-Ki, Jang Yangsoo, Ha Jinyong, Kim Jung-Sun

2023

cardiovascular imaging, fractional flow reserve, machine learning, optical coherence tomography, preoperative planning