Quantitative CT lung densitometry for the diagnosis of bronchiolitis obliterans in children

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantitative diagnostic performance of computed tomography (CT) densitometry in pediatric bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 109 children under age 18 who underwent 3D chest CT from March 2019 to March 2021. We measured the mean lung density (MLD) and calculated the difference of MLD (MLDD) in expiratory and inspiratory phase, the expiratory to inspiratory ratio of mean lung density (E/I MLD), and the relative volume percentage of lung density at 50 HU intervals (E600 to E950). We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of lung density indices for the diagnosis of BO. Results: A total of 81 patients, 51 BO patients and 30 controls, were included in this study (mean age: 12.7 vs 11.4 years). Expiratory (EXP) MLD, MLDD, E/I MLD, and E900 were all statistically significantly worse in the BO group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that MLDD (odds ratio [OR] = 0.98, p < .001), E/I MLD (OR = 1.39, p < .001), and E850 (OR = 1.54, p = 0.003) were significant densitometry parameters for BO diagnosis. In ROC analysis, E900 (cut-off 1.4%; AUC = 0.920), E/I MLD (cut-off 0.87; AUC = 0.887), and MLDD (cut-off 109 HU; AUC = 0.867) showed high accuracy in diagnosis of BO. Conclusion: The quantification of lung density with chest CT complements the diagnosis by providing additional indications of expiratory airflow limitation in pediatric BO patients.