Redefining β-blocker response in heart failure patients with sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation: a machine learning cluster analysis

Andreas Karwath, Karina V Bunting, Simrat K Gill, Otilia Tica, Samantha Pendleton, Furqan Aziz, Andrey D Barsky, Saisakul Chernbumroong, Jinming Duan, Alastair R Mobley, Victor Roth Cardoso, Luke Slater, John A Williams, Emma-jane Bruce, Xiaoxia Wang, Marcus D Flather, Andrew J S Coats, Georgios V Gkoutos, Dipak Kotecha

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Abstract

Mortality remains unacceptably high in patients with heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) despite advances in therapeutics. We hypothesised that a novel artificial intelligence approach could better assess multiple and higher-dimension interactions of comorbidities, and define clusters of β-blocker efficacy in patients with sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. Neural network-based variational autoencoders and hierarchical clustering were applied to pooled individual patient data from nine double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trials of β blockers. All-cause mortality during median 1·3 years of follow-up was assessed by intention to treat, stratified by electrocardiographic heart rhythm. The number of clusters and dimensions was determined objectively, with results validated using a leave-one-trial-out approach. This study was prospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00832442) and the PROSPERO database of systematic reviews (CRD42014010012). 15 659 patients with heart failure and LVEF of less than 50% were included, with median age 65 years (IQR 56-72) and LVEF 27% (IQR 21-33). 3708 (24%) patients were women. In sinus rhythm (n=12 822), most clusters demonstrated a consistent overall mortality benefit from β blockers, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 0·54 to 0·74. One cluster in sinus rhythm of older patients with less severe symptoms showed no significant efficacy (OR 0·86, 95% CI 0·67-1·10; p=0·22). In atrial fibrillation (n=2837), four of five clusters were consistent with the overall neutral effect of β blockers versus placebo (OR 0·92, 0·77-1·10; p=0·37). One cluster of younger atrial fibrillation patients at lower mortality risk but similar LVEF to average had a statistically significant reduction in mortality with β blockers (OR 0·57, 0·35-0·93; p=0·023). The robustness and consistency of clustering was confirmed for all models (p
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalThe Lancet
Volume2021
Issue number10309
Early online date30 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 30 Aug 2021

Keywords

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Autoencoders
  • Clustering
  • Beta-blockers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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