ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: In emphysema patient being evaluated for bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR), accurate measurement of lung volumes is important. Total lung capacity (TLC) and residual volume (RV) are commonly measured by body plethysmography but can also be derived from chest computed tomography (CT). Spirometry-gated CT scanning potentially improves the agreement of CT and body plethysmography. The aim of this study was to compare lung volumes derived from spirometry-gated CT and "breath-hold-coached" CT to the reference standard: body plethysmography. METHODS: In this single-centre retrospective cohort study, emphysema patients being evaluated for BLVR underwent body plethysmography, inspiration (TLC) and expiration (RV) CT scan with spirometer guidance ("gated group") or with breath-hold-coaching ("non-gated group"). Quantitative analysis was used to calculate lung volumes from the CT. RESULTS: 200 patients were included in the study (mean±sd age 62±8â years, forced expiratory flow in 1â s 29.2±8.7%, TLC 7.50±1.46â L, RV 4.54±1.07â L). The mean±sd CT-derived TLC was 280±340â mL lower compared to body plethysmography in the gated group (n=100), and 590±430â mL lower for the non-gated group (n=100) (both p<0.001). The mean±sd CT-derived RV was 300±470â mL higher in the gated group and 700±720 mL higher in the non-gated group (both p<0.001). Pearson correlation factors were 0.947 for TLC gated, 0.917 for TLC non-gated, 0.823 for RV gated, 0.693 for RV non-gated, 0.539 for %RV/TLC gated and 0.204 for %RV/TLC non-gated. The differences between the gated and non-gated CT results for TLC and RV were significant for all measurements (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In severe COPD patients with emphysema, CT-derived lung volumes are strongly correlated to body plethysmography lung volumes, and especially for RV, more accurate when using spirometry gating.