An assessment of the correlation between robust CT-derived ventilation and pulmonary function test in a cohort with no respiratory symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate CT-ventilation imaging (CTVI) within a well-characterized, healthy cohort with no respiratory symptoms and examine the correlation between CTVI and concurrent pulmonary function test (PFT).

METHODS

CT scans and PFTs from 77 Caucasian participants in the NORM dataset (clinicaltrials.gov NCT00848406) were analyzed. CTVI was generated using the robust Integrated Jacobian Formulation (IJF) method. IJF estimated total lung capacity (TLC) was computed from CTVI. Bias-adjusted Pearson's correlation between PFT and IJF-based TLC was computed.

RESULTS

IJF- and PFT-measured TLC showed a good correlation for both males and females [males: 0.657, 95% CI (0.438-0.797); females: 0.667, 95% CI (0.416-0.817)]. When adjusting for age, height, smoking, and abnormal CT scan, correlation moderated [males: 0.432, 95% CI (0.129-0.655); females: 0.540, 95% CI (0.207-0.753)]. Visual inspection of CTVI revealed participants who had functional defects, despite the fact that all participant had normal high-resolution CT scan.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrate that IJF computed CTVI has good correlation with concurrent PFT in a well-validated patient cohort with no respiratory symptoms.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

IJF-computed CTVI's overall numerical robustness and consistency with PFT support its potential as a method for providing spatiotemporal assessment of high and low function areas on volumetric non-contrast CT scan.