Detection of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension by volumetric iodine quantification in the lung-a case control study

Lung Dual-Energy CT Perfusion Blood Volume as a Marker of Severity in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

In chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), assessment of severity requires right heart catheterization (RHC) through cardiac index (CI). Previous studies have shown that dual-energy CT allows a quantitative assessment of the lung perfusion blood volume (PBV). Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the quantitative PBV as a marker of severity in CTEPH. In the present study, thirty-three patients with CTEPH (22 women, 68.2 ± 14.8 years) were included from May 2017 to September 2021. Mean quantitative PBV was 7.6% ± 3.1 and correlated with CI (r = 0.519, p = 0.002). Mean qualitative PBV was 41.1 ± 13.4 and did not correlate with CI. Quantitative PBV AUC values were 0.795 (95% CI: 0.637-0.953, p = 0.013) for a CI ≥ 2 L/min/m² and 0.752 (95% CI: 0.575-0.929, p = 0.020) for a CI ≥ 2.5 L/min/m². In conclusion, quantitative lung PBV outperformed qualitative PBV for its correlation with the cardiac index and may be used as a non-invasive marker of severity in CTPEH patients.

Spectral Detector CT-Derived Pulmonary Perfusion Maps and Pulmonary Parenchyma Characteristics for the Semiautomated Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension

Objectives

To evaluate the usefulness of spectral detector CT (SDCT)-derived pulmonary perfusion maps and pulmonary parenchyma characteristics for the semiautomated classification of pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Methods

A total of 162 consecutive patients with right heart catheter (RHC)-proven PH of different aetiologies as defined by the current ESC/ERS guidelines who underwent CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) on SDCT and 20 patients with an invasive rule-out of PH were included in this retrospective study. Semiautomatic lung segmentation into normal and malperfused areas based on iodine density (ID) as well as automatic, virtual non-contrast-based emphysema quantification were performed. Corresponding volumes, histogram features and the ID SkewnessPerfDef-Emphysema-Index (δ-index) accounting for the ratio of ID distribution in malperfused lung areas and the proportion of emphysematous lung parenchyma were computed and compared between groups.

Results

Patients with PH showed a significantly greater extent of malperfused lung areas as well as stronger and more homogenous perfusion defects. In group 3 and 4 patients, ID skewness revealed a significantly more homogenous ID distribution in perfusion defects than in all other subgroups. The δ-index allowed for further subclassification of subgroups 3 and 4 (p < 0.001), identifying patients with chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH, subgroup 4) with high accuracy (AUC: 0.92, 95%-CI, 0.85–0.99).

Conclusion

Abnormal pulmonary perfusion in PH can be detected and quantified by semiautomated SDCT-based pulmonary perfusion maps. ID skewness in malperfused lung areas, and the δ-index allow for a classification of PH subgroups, identifying groups 3 and 4 patients with high accuracy, independent of reader expertise.