Predicting risk of heart failure for diabetes patients with help from machine learning

Heart failure is an important potential complication of type 2 diabetes that occurs frequently and can lead to death or disability. Earlier this month, late-breaking trial results revealed that a new class of medications known as SGLT2 inhibitors may be helpful for patients with heart failure. These therapies may also be used in patients with diabetes to prevent heart failure from occurring in the first place. However, a way of accurately identifying which diabetes patients are most at risk for heart failure remains elusive. A new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center unveils a new, machine-learning derived model that can predict, with a high degree of accuracy, future heart failure among patients with diabetes. The team's findings are presented at the Heart Failure Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia and simultaneously published in Diabetes Care.