Shandong University, Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, CT Room, Shandong, PR China.
Korean J Radiol. 2011 May-Jun;12(3):289-96. doi: 10.3348/kjr.2011.12.3.289. Epub 2011 Apr 25.
The aim of this study was to use fractal dimension (FD) analysis on multidetector CT (MDCT) images for quantifying the morphological changes of the pulmonary artery tree in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH).
Fourteen patients with PH and 17 patients without PH as controls were studied. All of the patients underwent contrast-enhanced helical CT and transthoracic echocardiography. The pulmonary artery trees were generated using post-processing software, and the FD and projected image area of the pulmonary artery trees were determined with ImageJ software in a personal computer. The FD, the projected image area and the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) were statistically evaluated in the two groups.
The FD, the projected image area and the PAP of the patients with PH were higher than those values of the patients without PH (p < 0.05, t-test). There was a high correlation of FD with the PAP (r = 0.82, p < 0.05, partial correlation analysis). There was a moderate correlation of FD with the projected image area (r = 0.49, p < 0.05, partial correlation analysis). There was a correlation of the PAP with the projected image area (r = 0.65, p < 0.05, Pearson correlation analysis).
The FD of the pulmonary arteries in the PH patients was significantly higher than that of the controls. There is a high correlation of FD with the PAP.
本研究旨在利用多层螺旋 CT（MDCT）图像的分形维数（FD）分析来定量肺动脉树在肺动脉高压（PH）患者中的形态变化。
研究纳入了 14 例 PH 患者和 17 例无 PH 的对照患者。所有患者均行增强螺旋 CT 和经胸超声心动图检查。使用后处理软件生成肺动脉树，并使用个人计算机中的 ImageJ 软件确定肺动脉树的 FD 和投影图像面积。在两组患者中对 FD、投影图像面积和肺动脉压（PAP）进行统计学评估。
PH 患者的 FD、投影图像面积和 PAP 均高于无 PH 患者（p<0.05，t 检验）。FD 与 PAP 高度相关（r=0.82，p<0.05，偏相关分析）。FD 与投影图像面积中度相关（r=0.49，p<0.05，偏相关分析）。PAP 与投影图像面积相关（r=0.65，p<0.05，皮尔逊相关分析）。
PH 患者的肺动脉 FD 明显高于对照组。FD 与 PAP 高度相关。
