In this cohort study involving 9399 current and former smokers from the Genetic Epidemiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease study, we assessed the relationship between artificial intelligence-quantified mucus plugs on chest CTs and all-cause mortality. Our results revealed a significant positive association, particularly for those with COPD GOLD stages 1–4, with HRs of 1.18 for 1–2 mucus-obstructed bronchial segments and 1.27 for ≥3 obstructed segments. This corroborates previous visual mucus plug counting research and demonstrates the relevance of mucus plugs in COPD pathology and as a marker for risk assessment. Automated mucus plug quantification methods may provide an efficient tool for both clinical evaluations and research.

中文翻译：

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基于 AI 的气道闭塞粘液栓自动量化与 COPD 患者全因死亡率之间的关联


在这项涉及慢性阻塞性肺病遗传流行病学研究的 9399 名当前和前吸烟者的队列研究中，我们评估了胸部 CT 上人工智能量化的粘液栓与全因死亡率之间的关系。我们的结果揭示了显着的正相关，特别是对于 COPD GOLD 1-4 期患者，1-2 个粘液阻塞支气管节段的 HR 为 1.18，≥3 个阻塞节段的 HR 为 1.27。这证实了先前的视觉粘液栓计数研究，并证明了粘液栓在 COPD 病理学中的相关性，并作为风险评估的标志物。自动粘液栓定量方法可能为临床评估和研究提供有效的工具。