Prediction of prognosis in patients with systemic sclerosis based on a machine-learning model

The clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis (SSc) are highly variable, resulting in varied outcomes and complications. Diverse fibrosis of the skin and internal organs, vasculopathy, and dysregulated immune system lead to poor and varied prognoses in patients with SSc subtypes. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a personalized tool for predicting the prognosis of patients with SSc.

A cohort of 517 patients with SSc were recruited between January 2009 and November 2021 at Xijing Hospital in China, and 266 patients completed the follow-up and performed in the survival analysis. Risk factors for death were identified using Cox survival analysis and random survival forest-based machine-learning methods separately. The consistency index, area under the curve (AUC), and integrated Brier scores were used to compare the predictive performance of the different prognostic models.

The results of Cox-based multivariate regression analysis suggested that pulmonary arterial hypertension, digital ulcer, and Modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS) were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with SSc and significant risk factors in random survival forest (RSF) surveys. A nomogram was plotted to evaluate the prognostic risk to facilitate clinical assessment; the RSF model had better predictive performance than the Cox model, with 3- and 5-year AUCs of 0.74 and 0.78, respectively.

Machine-learning models can help us better understand the prognosis of patients with SSc and comprehensively evaluate the clinical characteristics of each individual. The early identification of the characteristics of high-risk patients can improve the prognosis of those with SSc.