Assessing the diagnostic utility of the Gaucher Earlier Diagnosis Consensus (GED-C) scoring system using real-world data

Abstract

Background Gaucher disease (GD) is a rare autosomal recessive condition associated with clinical features such as splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and bone abnormalities. Three clinical forms of GD have been defined based on the absence (type 1, GD1) or presence (types 2 and 3) of neurological signs. Early diagnosis can reduce the likelihood of severe, often irreversible complications. The aim of this study was to validate the ability of factors from the Gaucher Earlier Diagnosis Consensus (GED-C) scoring system to discriminate between patients with GD1 and controls using real-world data from electronic patient medical records from Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel’s second-largest state-mandated healthcare provider. Methods We applied the GED-C scoring system to 265 confirmed cases of GD and 3445 non-GD controls matched for year of birth, sex, and socioeconomic status identified from 1998 to 2022. The analyses were based on two databases: (1) all available data and (2) all data except free-text notes. Features from the GED-C scoring system applicable to GD1 were extracted for each individual. Patients and controls were compared for the proportion of the specific features and overall GED-C scores. Decision tree and random forest models were trained to identify the main features distinguishing GD from non-GD controls. Results The GED-C scoring distinguished individuals with GD from controls using both databases. Decision tree models for the databases showed good accuracy (0.96 [95% CI 0.95–0.97] for Database 1; 0.95 [95% CI 0.94–0.96] for Database 2), high specificity (0.99 [95% CI 0.99–1]) for Database 1; 1.0 [95% CI 0.99–1] for Database 2), but relatively low sensitivity (0.53 [95% CI 0.46–0.59] for Database 1; 0.32 [95% CI 0.25–0.38]) for Database 2). The clinical features of splenomegaly, thrombocytopenia (< 50 × 109/L), and hyperferritinemia (300–1000 ng/mL) were found to be the three most accurate classifiers of GD in both databases. Conclusion In this analysis of real-world patient data, certain individual features of the GED-C score discriminate more successfully between patients with GD and controls than the overall score. An enhanced diagnostic model may lead to earlier, reliable diagnoses of Gaucher disease, aiming to minimize the severe complications associated with this disease.