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Published on: February 13, 2021
A Functional Data Analysis Approach to Left Ventricular Remodeling Assessment
Insights
This study introduces a novel functional data analysis approach to assess myocardial contractility and detect left ventricular hypertrophy. This method offers a more comprehensive evaluation of cardiac structure than traditional parameters.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Data Science
Background:
- Left ventricular remodeling is a key process in cardiovascular diseases, impacting myocardial morphology.
- Current diagnostic parameters like ejection fraction primarily assess volumetric aspects, potentially overlooking structural changes.
- Quantitative assessment of structural modifications is crucial for early disease detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a functional data analysis approach for evaluating myocardial contractility.
- To develop a method for discriminating between healthy subjects and those with left ventricular hypertrophy.
- To integrate higher informative content beyond traditional clinical parameters for assessing cardiac morphology.
Main Methods:
- Introduction of a functional representation of ventricular shape.
- Application of functional principal component analysis (FPCA).
- Utilization of depth measures for subject discrimination.
Main Results:
- The proposed approach successfully discriminates between healthy individuals and those with left ventricular hypertrophy.
- Functional data analysis provides a synthetic representation of myocardial morphological changes.
- The method integrates more informative content compared to standard clinical parameters.
Conclusions:
- Functional data analysis offers a promising tool for quantitative assessment of myocardial contractility and structural changes.
- This approach can aid in the early individuation of left ventricular hypertrophy.
- The method has potential for implementation in future clinical practice for improved cardiovascular disease management.
Abstract:
Left ventricular remodeling is a mechanism common to various cardiovascular diseases affecting myocardial morphology. It can be often overlooked in clinical practice since the parameters routinely employed in the diagnostic process (e.g., the ejection fraction) mainly focus on evaluating volumetric aspects. Nevertheless, the integration of a quantitative assessment of structural modifications can be pivotal in the early individuation of this pathology. In this work, we propose an approach based on functional data analysis to evaluate myocardial contractility. A functional representation of ventricular shape is introduced, and functional principal component analysis and depth measures are used to discriminate healthy subjects from those affected by left ventricular hypertrophy. Our approach enables the integration of higher informative content compared to the traditional clinical parameters, allowing for a synthetic representation of morphological changes in the myocardium, which could be further explored and considered for future clinical practice implementation.
