Predictive performance of six mortality risk scores and the development of a novel model in a prospective cohort of patients undergoing valve surgery secondary to rheumatic fever

Background Mortality prediction after cardiac procedures is an essential tool in clinical decision making. Although rheumatic cardiac disease remains a major cause of heart surgery in the world no previous study validated risk scores in a sample exclusively with this condition. Objectives Develop a novel predictive model focused on mortality prediction among patients undergoing cardiac surgery secondary to rheumatic valve conditions. Methods We conducted prospective consecutive all-comers patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) referred for surgical treatment of valve disease between May 2010 and July of 2015. Risk scores for hospital mortality were calculated using the 2000 Bernstein-Parsonnet, EuroSCORE II, InsCor, AmblerSCORE, GuaragnaSCORE, and the New York SCORE. In addition, we developed the rheumatic heart valve surgery score (RheSCORE). Results A total of 2,919 RHD patients underwent heart valve surgery. After evaluating 13 different models, the top performing areas under the curve were achieved using Random Forest (0.982) and Neural Network (0.952). Most influential predictors across all models included left atrium size, high creatinine values, a tricuspid procedure, reoperation and pulmonary hypertension. Areas under the curve for previously developed scores were all below the performance for the RheSCORE model: 2000 Bernstein-Parsonnet (0.876), EuroSCORE II (0.857), InsCor (0.835), Ambler (0.831), Guaragna (0.816) and the New York score (0.834). A web application is presented where researchers and providers can calculate predicted mortality based on the RheSCORE. Conclusions The RheSCORE model outperformed pre-existing scores in a sample of patients with rheumatic cardiac disease.