Explainable Machine Learning for Predicting Deep Vein Thrombosis in Critically Ill Patients with COPD: Development and Multicenter External Validation.

Authors

Guangdong Wang, Tingting Liu, Wenwen Ji, Tingting Li, Zhuoyang Wang, Tinghua Hu, Xiaojian Wang, Zhihong Shi

Published in

International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Volume 21. Pages 609203. Epub Aug 18, 2026.

Abstract

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a frequent yet underrecognized complication in critically ill patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Existing risk assessment tools are not specifically tailored to this high-risk population. We aimed to develop and externally validate an interpretable machine-learning model for early prediction of DVT in ICU-admitted COPD patients.
Adult COPD patients admitted to the ICU were identified from the MIMIC-IV database and randomly divided into training and internal validation cohorts. Eight machine-learning algorithms were constructed and compared. The best-performing model was externally validated in MIMIC-III and eICU cohorts. Model discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility were assessed using AUC, calibration plots, decision-curve analysis (DCA), and Brier scores. SHAP analysis was applied for global and individual interpretability. A web-based calculator was developed for clinical application.
Among 6,672 ICU patients with COPD, 462 (6.9%) developed DVT. XGBoost showed the best overall performance, with an AUC of 0.840 (95% CI 0.812-0.868) in the internal validation cohort and good calibration. External validation confirmed stable discrimination in both MIMIC-III and eICU cohorts. Model interpretation identified prolonged PTT, elevated RDW, reduced SpO₂, and increased respiratory rate as important contributors to DVT risk. Decision-curve analysis suggested potential clinical benefit across relevant risk thresholds.
We developed and externally validated an explainable machine-learning model for early prediction of DVT in ICU patients with COPD. By providing individualized risk estimates and interpretable explanations, this tool may help clinicians identify high-risk patients earlier and support more targeted thromboprophylaxis and imaging surveillance strategies.

PMID:
42633429
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Aug 2026.

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