Comparison of 4-dimensional computed tomography ventilation with nuclear medicine ventilation-perfusion imaging: A clinical validation study

Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy, Phillip J. Koo, Richard Castillo, Edward Castillo, Thomas Guerrero, Laurie E. Gaspar, Moyed Miften, Brian D. Kavanagh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) ventilation imaging provides lung function information for lung cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Before 4DCT-ventilation can be implemented clinically it needs to be validated against an established imaging modality. The purpose of this work was to compare 4DCT-ventilation to nuclear medicine ventilation, using clinically relevant global metrics and radiologist observations. Methods and Materials Fifteen lung cancer patients with 16 sets of 4DCT and nuclear medicine ventilation-perfusion (VQ) images were used for the study. The VQ-ventilation images were acquired in planar mode using Tc-99m-labeled diethylenetriamine- pentaacetic acid aerosol inhalation. 4DCT data, spatial registration, and a density-change-based model were used to compute a 4DCT-based ventilation map for each patient. The percent ventilation was calculated in each lung and each lung third for both the 4DCT and VQ-ventilation scans. A nuclear medicine radiologist assessed the VQ and 4DCT scans for the presence of ventilation defects. The VQ and 4DCT-based images were compared using regional percent ventilation and radiologist clinical observations. Results Individual patient examples demonstrate good qualitative agreement between the 4DCT and VQ-ventilation scans. The correlation coefficients were 0.68 and 0.45, using the percent ventilation in each individual lung and lung third, respectively. Using radiologist-noted presence of ventilation defects and receiver operating characteristic analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the 4DCT-ventilation were 90%, 64%, and 81%, respectively. Conclusions The current work compared 4DCT with VQ-based ventilation using clinically relevant global metrics and radiologist observations. We found good agreement between the radiologist's assessment of the 4DCT and VQ-ventilation images as well as the percent ventilation in each lung. The agreement lessened when the data were analyzed on a regional level. Our study presents an important step for the integration of 4DCT-ventilation into thoracic clinical practice.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)199-205
Number of pages7
JournalInternational Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics
Volume89
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiation
  • Oncology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Cancer Research

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