Open AccessCT-based Airway Flow Model to Assess Ventilation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Minsuok Kim,
Ozkan Doganay,
Tahreema Matin,
Thomas Povey,
Fergus Gleeson
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
radiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.118
H-Index - 295
eISSN - 1527-1315
pISSN - 0033-8419
DOI - 10.1148/radiol.2019190395
Subject(s) - medicine , copd , ventilation (architecture) , nuclear medicine , obstructive lung disease , lung , radiology , airway , cardiology , anesthesia , mechanical engineering , engineering
Background The lack of functional information in thoracic CT remains a limitation of its use in the clinical management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Purpose To compare the distribution of pulmonary ventilation assessed by a CT-based full-scale airway network (FAN) flow model with hyperpolarized xenon 129 ( 129 Xe) MRI (hereafter, 129 Xe MRI) and technetium 99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid aerosol SPECT ventilation imaging (hereafter, V-SPECT) in participants with COPD. Materials and Methods In this prospective study performed between May and August 2017, pulmonary ventilation in participants with COPD was computed by using the FAN flow model. The modeled pulmonary ventilation was compared with functional imaging data from breath-hold time-series 129 Xe MRI and V-SPECT. FAN-derived ventilation images on the coronal plane and volumes of interest were compared with functional lung images. Percentage lobar ventilation estimated by the FAN model was compared with that measured at 129 Xe MRI and V-SPECT. The statistical significance of ventilation distribution between FAN and functional images was demonstrated with the Spearman correlation coefficient and χ 2 distance. Results For this study, nine participants (seven men [mean age, 65 years ± 5 {standard deviation}] and two women [mean age, 63 years ± 7]) with COPD that was Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage II-IV were enrolled. FAN-modeled ventilation profile showed strong positive correlation with images from 129 Xe MRI (ρ = 0.67; P < .001) and V-SPECT (ρ = 0.65; P < .001). The χ 2 distances of the ventilation histograms in the volumes of interest between the FAN and 129 Xe MRI and FAN and V-SPECT were 0.16 ± 0.08 and 0.28 ± 0.14, respectively. The ratios of lobar ventilations in the models were linearly correlated to images from 129 Xe MRI (ρ = 0.67; P < .001) and V-SPECT (ρ = 0.59; P < .001). Conclusion A CT-based full-scale airway network flow model provided regional pulmonary ventilation information for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and correlates with hyperpolarized xenon 129 MRI and technetium 99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid aerosol SPECT ventilation imaging. © RSNA, 2019 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Schiebler and Parraga in this issue.