Gastro-oesophageal reflux and interstitial lung disease.

BACKGROUND: Interstitial lung disease is a heterogeneous entity, which encompasses a large number of pulmonary disorders, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Gastro-oesophageal reflux appears to be more prevalent in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis than in controls and in patients with secondary pulmonary fibrosis, but its contribution to interstitial lung disease remains unsettled. AIMS: To prospectively evaluate gastro-oesophageal reflux in patients with interstitial lung disease and to define acid reflux patterns in patients with idiopathic and secondary forms of pulmonary fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients (15M, median age 66 years, interquartile range 60-71) were studied by history taking, pulmonary function tests, high resolution computed tomography, oesophageal manometry and 24h oesophago-gastric pH monitoring. RESULTS: Sixteen patients (57%) had typical reflux symptoms. All patients completed 24h pH metry and 14 underwent oesophageal manometry. An abnormal oesophageal acid exposure was observed in 19 patients (68%), 13 of which complained of predominant typical reflux symptoms. A diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was made in 18 patients, while the remaining 10 patients were classified as secondary pulmonary fibrosis. Secondary pulmonary fibrosis patients had more restrictive lung defect, as expressed as Tiffeneau index (p<0.05) and greater acid reflux at nighttime (p<0.05) than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of abnormal acid reflux in interstitial lung disease patients is high and, in particular, patients with secondary pulmonary fibrosis show higher oesophageal acid exposure than those with idiopathic form.

Spiral CT evaluation of pulmonary emphysema using a low-dose technique.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical acceptability of low-dose spiral CT for determining pulmonary volumes and emphysema extension in patients with pulmonary emphysema, in comparison with studies based on spiral CT at conventional dose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated eighteen patients, current or former smokers, with a clinical diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. All the patients underwent: HRCT with three scans at predetermined levels; quantitative spiral CT, with two inspiratory scans, one conventional scan at 240 mA, and the second one a low-dose scan at 80 mA. We used the following parameters: 120 kV, rotation time 0.8", scan time less than 20" (single inspiratory breath-hold), layer thickness 7.5 mm, pitch 6 (high speed), interpolation algorithm at 180 degrees. A 3D reconstruction was performed, with segmentation of the lungs and automatic quantification of pulmonary volumes. We compared the volumes of absolute and percent emphysema and the ratings of the dose delivered to the patient (CTDIw and DLP) obtained with the two spiral CT scans with each other and with the respiratory function tests. RESULTS: The average total lung capacity (TLC) obtained by conventional-dose spiral CT (CTs1) was 6889.4 cc (SD +/-1813.2), and the capacity with low-dose spiral CT (CTs2) was 6929.4 cc (SD +/-1811.6). The percentage of emphysema was 39.7% (range: 2.2-63.5%; SD: +/-19.9) for the CTs1 and 41.1% (range: 2.1-66.4%; SD: +/-20). The CTDIw corresponding to CTs1 was 12.2 mGy (range: 11.9-16.4; SD: +/-1), the one corresponding to CTs2, 3.6 mGy (range: 3.6-4.9; SD: +/-0.3). The DLP corresponding to CTs1 was 391.7 mGy x cm (range: 333.3-518.9; SD: +/-46.7), the one corresponding to CTs2 was 117.8 mGy x cm (range: 100.3-156; SD: +/-14). As for the respiratory function tests, the total lung capacity (TLC) obtained by body plethysmography was 7061 cc (SD: +/-2029.7); the percent TLC was 115.9 (range: 66-165; SD: +/-27.6), the forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1%, percentage of predicted value) was 46.7% (range: 17-123; SD: +/-27.3), residual volume (RV%) as a percentage of predicted value was 186.3 (range: 84-359; SD: +/-80.7), the Tiffeneau index (TI) was 46% (range: 25-71; SD: +/-15.7). We observed a very significant correlation between radiological and functional TLC for both CT methods. The percentage scores for emphysema obtained with the two methods correlated significantly with the functional indexes. The pixel index of CTs1 correlated with TLC% (r=0.87; p<0.0001), FEV1% (r=-0.53; p<0.02), RV% (r=0.76; p=0.004), TI (r=-0.79; p=0.0001). The pixel index of CTs2 correlated with TLC% (r=0.87; p<0.0001), FEV1% (r=-0.56; p=0.01), RV% (r=0.78; p=0.003), TI (r=-0.8; p=0.0001). The adoption of the method with low tube current entailed a highly significant reduction in the estimated dose delivered to patients (CTDIw and DLP) with r=0.9 and p < 0.0001. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative low-dose spiral CT is a very good method to quantify pulmonary volumes and calculate the extension of the anatomic emphysema. The reduction of mA from 240 to 80 lowers the estimated dose by 30%, without compromising the accuracy of the results. Our study achieved a highly significant correlation between the results obtained with the two spiral CT techniques and between these results and the respiratory function tests. In clinical practice, the easiest way to reduce the dose in spiral CT of the lung is to reduce the tube current. The low-dose method allows a significant reduction in radiation exposure. Further studies are required to establish to what extent the dose can be reduced without increasing in quantum noise and thereby compromising the quality of the study.