CT radiomics for evaluation of intervertebral disc change in the scoliosis.

Abstract

Background: Advanced methods are still lacking for the computed tomography (CT) evaluation of early degenerative changes of intervertebral disc in scoliosis.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of CT radiomics in evaluating early disc degeneration changes in scoliosis.

Material and methods: A total of 60 patients with severe scoliosis were assessed with the method of CT radiomics. CT radiomics features of the intervertebral disc were obtained by using the software of 3D Slicer and were then compared between vertex disc (VD) and normal disc (ND). The analysis of maximum correlation minimum redundancy (mRMR) and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method was used to establish a model. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the performance of the model.

Results: ND and VD differed in 23 radiomics features (P < 0.05). By using mRMR and LASSO methods, five features were finally selected to establish a model. The AUC of the model in the identification of VD were 0.93 and 0.90 for the training cohort and validation cohort, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 90% and 85%, respectively.

Conclusion: CT radiomics of the intervertebral disc is feasible in identifying early degenerative changes caused by scoliosis.