Random forest analysis: a new approach for classication of Beta Thalassemia

Abstract

In recent years, Thalassemia care providers started classifying patients as transfusion- dependent-Thalassemia (TDT) or non-transfusion-dependent-Thalassemia (NTDT) owing to the established role of transfusion therapy in dening the clinical complication prole, although this classication was also based on expert opinion and is limited by reliance on patients'current transfusion status. Starting from a vast set of variables indicating severity phenotype, through the use of both classication and clustering techniques we want to explore the presence of two (TDT vs NTDT) or more clusters, in order to approaching to a new denition for the classication of Beta-Thalassemia in Thalassemia Syndromes (TS).