HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Madani, A. Articles by Gevenois, P. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Madani, A. Articles by Gevenois, P. A.

Pulmonary Emphysema: Size Distribution of Emphysematous Spaces on Multidetector CT Images—Comparison with Macroscopic and Microscopic Morphometry¹

¹ From the Departments of Radiology (A.M., P.A.G.) and Pneumology (A.V.M.), Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium; Biostatistical and Medical Informatics Department and IRIBHM Institute of Interdisciplinary Research in Human and Molecular Biology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium (V.d.M.); and Department of Histology, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium (J.Z.). Received August 11, 2007; revision requested November 7; revision received February 11, 2008; final version accepted March 16. Supported by the Erasme Funds for Medical Research. Address correspondence to A.M., Department of Radiology, CHU de Charleroi, Boulevard Paul Janson 92, 6000 Charleroi, Belgium (e-mail: afarine{at}ladner-madani.com).

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that the frequency-size distribution of low-attenuation areas could be a parameter to quantify pulmonary emphysema.

Materials and Methods: Ethics committee approval and written informed consent were obtained. Multidetector computed tomographic (CT) scans were performed with simultaneous acquisition of four 1-mm sections of the whole chest in 80 patients (57 men, 23 women; age range, 38–79 years) who were referred for surgical resection of lung cancer. From the raw data, 1.25-mm-thick sections were reconstructed at 10-mm intervals. The relative area of lung with attenuation coefficients lower than –960 HU (RA₉₆₀) and the 1st percentile of the distribution of attenuation coefficients were calculated. The cumulative frequency–size distributions of the RA₉₆₀ and the 1st percentile, when represented on a log-log plot, followed linear relationships. The slopes of these lines (D₉₆₀ and D_p1) were compared with areas found macroscopically to have emphysema and with two different microscopic measurements assessed on resected specimens. Spearman correlation coefficients of each CT index with macroscopic and microscopic measurements were calculated.

Results: The RA₉₆₀ and the 1st percentile showed statistically significant correlations with macroscopic and microscopic indexes (P < .001), whereas D₉₆₀ and D_p1 did not (P .165).

Conclusion: The RA₉₆₀ and the 1st percentile reflect the extent of emphysema as compared to macroscopic and microscopic measurements, while D₉₆₀ and D_p1 do not.

© RSNA, 2008