A lung image reconstruction from computed radiography images as a tool to tuberculosis treatment control

Abstract

Background: Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious lung disease with high worldwide incidence that severely compromises the quality of life in affected individuals. Clinical tests are currently employed to monitor pulmonary status and treatment progression. The present study aimed to apply a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction method based on chest radiography to quantify lung-involvement volume of TB acute-phase patients before and after treatment. In addition, these results were compared with indices from conventional clinical exams to show the coincidence level. Methods: A 3D lung reconstruction method using patient chest radiography was applied to quantify lung-involvement volume using retrospective examinations of 50 patients who were diagnosed with pulmonary TB and treated with two different drugs schemes. Twenty-five patients were treated with Scheme I (rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide), whereas twenty-five patients were treated with Scheme II (rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol). Acute-phase reaction: Serum exams included C-reactive protein levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and albumin levels. Pulmonary function was tested posttreatment. Results: We found strong agreement between lung involvement and serum indices pre- and posttreatment. Comparison of the functional severity degree with lung involvement based on 3D image quantification for both treatment schemes found a high correlation. Conclusions: The present 3D reconstruction method produced a satisfactory agreement with the acute-phase reaction, most notably a higher significance level with the C-reactive protein. We also found a quite reasonable coincidence between the 3D reconstruction method and the degree of functional lung impairment posttreatment. The performance of the quantification method was satisfactory when comparing the two treatment schemes. Thus, the 3D reconstruction quantification method may be useful tools for monitoring TB treatment. The association with serum indices are not only inexpensive and sensitive but also may be incorporated into the assessment of patients during TB treatment.

Screening performance of C-reactive protein for active pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-positive patients: A systematic review with a meta-analysis

“…Moreover, CRP proved higher accuracy and specificity when evaluated as a TB case-finding test in comparison with WHO-4-SS ( 12 , 47 ). Although CRP does not identify drug resistance, its potential clinical relevance as a screening test in PTB patients and as a reliable tool in monitoring treatment outcomes justifies the concept of our study ( 48 ).…”

Screening Performance of C-Reactive Protein for Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis in HIV-Positive Patients: A Meta-analysis

“…This meta-analysis updates the current literature, including 9 studies, on the accuracy of CRP screening test for PTB in HIV-positive adults [15,16,22,28,29,[32][33][34][35]. The pooled estimates for sensibility and speci city did not remain similar using a CRP cut-point of 10mg/L, comparing to the current review (pooled sensitivity=86% and pooled speci city=73%) and prior review (pooled sensitivity=93% and pooled speci city=62%), respectively [30].…”

“…Shapiro et al also underlined the importance of CRP as a discrimination factor between culture positive and culture negative specimens [29]. Although CRP does not identify drug resistance, its potential clinical relevance as screening test in PTB patients and as a reliable tool in monitoring treatment outcomes justi es the concept of our study [30].…”

Inflammatory lesions and brain tumors: is it possible to differentiate them based on texture features in magnetic resonance imaging?

“…In the view of fast innovation and development of diagnostic equipment, the volume and complexity of diagnostic images increase every day. Thus, researchers worldwide frequently are searching for algorithms to facilitate the diagnosis and to minimize the costs for the institution [23][24][25][26][27]. In this context, our tool aims to assist the radiologists, bringing greater safety to the diagnosis, agility, and reducing costs.…”