Predicting the Need for Cardiovascular Surgery: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models

This research examines the efficacy of ensemble Machine Learning (ML) models, mainly focusing on Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), in predicting the need for cardiovascular surgery, a critical aspect of clinical decision-making. It addresses key challenges such as class imbalance, which is pivotal in healthcare settings. The research involved a comprehensive comparison and evaluation of the performance of previously published ML methods against a new Deep Learning (DL) model. This comparison utilized a dataset encompassing 50,000 patient records from a large hospital between 2015-2022. The study proposes enhancing the efficacy of these models through feature selection and hyperparameter optimization, employing techniques like grid search. A novel aspect of this research was the comparison of a newly developed DNN model with existing ensemble models based on similar cardiovascular datasets. The results indicated the DNN model's superior predictive accuracy, demonstrating an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 74%, alongside notable precision (68%) and recall (72%) for the minority class, which indicates patients requiring surgery. The model further achieved a 70% F1-Score and a balanced accuracy rate of 72%, significantly outperforming the existing ensemble models in every key performance metric. The study underscores the transformative potential of DNNs in predictive modeling for cardiovascular care and highlights the importance of integrating advanced ML techniques into clinical workflows. Future research should delve into the practical application and integration of these models.