The Use of Bronchial Arteries in the Characterization of Primary Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to discuss the use of ipsilateral bronchial artery dilatation when a solitary lung mass is detected on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 55 patients with solitary lung mass. An MDCT scanner was used for the study. Location and the greatest size of the tumor, and ipsilateral bronchial artery caliper (dilated if >2 mm) were noted for each patient. TNM staging of each patient with primary lung cancer was also recorded. Statistical analyses were applied to both groups using SPSS 17.0. χ test was used for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: Statistically strong correlation was observed between ipsilateral bronchial artery dilatation and primary lung carcinoma. Among the 11 benign lung masses, only 2 (18%) showed ipsilateral bronchial artery dilatation. But 39 (88.6%) of the 44 primary lung carcinoma patients and 36 (92.3%) of the 39 primary lung carcinoma patients with predominantly extramediastinal (lung) location showed ipsilateral bronchial artery dilatation on MDCT. When only predominantly extramediastinal lesions were taken into account, sensitivity of the study was 92.31%, specificity was 81.82%, positive predictive value was 94.74%, and negative predictive value was 75%. CONCLUSIONS: Lesion characterization and accuracy was very high when the only criteria of bronchial artery dilatation are taken into account. Sensitivity and negative predictive value were higher in the patients with extramediastinal lesions.