Affiliations: [a] Department of Medical Image, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’anJiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| [b] Department of CT, The Weapons Industry of 521 Hospital, Xi’an, China
| [c] Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of traditional Chinese Medicine, Xian yang, China
| [d] The Second Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding authors: Youmin Guo, Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 West Yanta Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710061, China. E-mail: [email protected] and Jiansheng Wang, The Second Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 West Yanta Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710061, China. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Improved visualization of lung cancer-associated vessels is vital. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of 3-D quantitative CT in lung cancer-associated pulmonary vessel assessment. METHODS:Vascular CT changes were assessed visually and using FACT-Digital lung TM software (n = 162 patients, 178 controls). The total number of pulmonary vessels (TNV) and mean lumen area of pulmonary vessels (MAV) vertical to cross-sections of fifth/sixth-generation bronchioles were measured. RESULTS:Visual investigation revealed fewer ipsilateral pulmonary vascular abnormalities in lung cancer (151/162) than did quantitative CT (162/162), and required more time (3.2±1.5 vs. 2.5±1.3 min) (P < 0.05). CT measurements revealed that the TNV vertical to the fifth-generation bronchial cross-section of the ipsilateral, contralateral, and control groups was 14.58±4.75, 9.58±3.74, and 10.22±4.07 and the MAV in these groups was 99.70±26.20, 58.76±29.29, and 57.76±18.32, respectively. The TNV vertical to the sixth-generation bronchial cross-section of the ipsilateral, contralateral, and control groups was 16.64±5.14, 11.59±4.06, and 11.75±4.16 and the MAV was 110.22±31.47, 67.62±30.41, and 60.24±16.18, respectively. The TNV and MAV in ipsilateral lung cancer tissues exceeded those in the contralateral side and control group tissues (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:Automated 3-D quantitative CT could successfully characterize pulmonary vessels and their lung cancer-associated changes.
Keywords: Lung cancer, CT, total number of vessels, mean lumen area of vessels, quantitative measurement
