Evaluation of a fusion model combining deep learning models based on enhanced CT images with radiological and clinical features in distinguishing lipid-poor adrenal adenoma from metastatic lesions.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a machine learning model combining deep learning models based on enhanced CT images with radiological and clinical features in differentiating lipid-poor adrenal adenomas from metastatic tumors, and to explain the model's prediction results through SHAP(Shapley Additive Explanations) analysis.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on abdominal contrast-enhanced CT images and clinical data from 416 pathologically confirmed adrenal tumor patients at our hospital from July 2019 to December 2024. Patients were randomly divided into training and testing sets in a 7:3 ratio. Six convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning models were employed, and the model with the highest diagnostic performance was selected based on the area under curve(AUC) of the ROC. Subsequently, multiple machine learning models incorporating clinical and radiological features were developed and evaluated using various indicators and AUC.The best-performing machine learning model was further analyzed using SHAP plots to enhance interpretability and quantify feature contributions.

RESULTS

All six deep learning models demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance, with AUC values exceeding 0.8, among which ResNet50 achieved the highest AUC. Among the 10 machine learning models incorporating clinical and imaging features, the extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost) model exhibited the best accuracy(ACC), sensitivity, and AUC, indicating superior diagnostic performance.SHAP analysis revealed contributions from ResNet50, RPW, age, and other key features in model predictions.

CONCLUSION

Machine learning models based on contrast-enhanced CT combined with clinical and imaging features exhibit outstanding diagnostic performance in differentiating lipid-poor adrenal adenomas from metastases.