Artificial intelligence versus logistic regression statistical modelling to predict cardiac complications after noncardiac surgery

The traditional approach to developing models predictive of cardiac events has been to perform logistic regression (LR) analysis on a variety of potential predictors. An alternative is to use an artificial intelligence system called a neural network (NN) which simulates biological intelligence. To evaluate the potential applicability of the latter method, we compared the ability of LR and NN techniques to predict cardiac events after noncardiac surgery. A total of 200 patients (training group) underwent cardiac risk assessment before major noncardiac surgery using 17 clinical parameters and 7 quantitative indices based on dipyridamole‐thallium imaging. There were 21 postoperative myocardial infarctions and/or cardiac deaths. Data from the training group were used to develop two predictive models: one based on backward stepwise LR multivariate statistical analysis and the other one using a neural network. Both models were then validated on a second group of 160 consecutive patients also referred for preoperative risk stratification (validation group). The NN consisted of 14 input, 29 hidden, and 1 output neurons and used a back‐propagation algorithm (learning rate 0.2, training tolerance 0.5, sigmoid transfer function). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive accuracies for the prediction of postoperative events in the validation group of 160 patients were, respectively, 67% (6/9), 82% (124/151), 18% (6/33), and 98% (124/127) for LR, and 67% (6/9), 96% (145/151), 50% (6/12), and 98% (145/148) for the NN, with a difference in specificity which attained statistical significance (p < 0.01). Artificial intelligence may provide a useful alternative to conventional LR statistical analysis for the purpose of preoperative cardiac risk assessment.