Key result
Imaging techniques for measuring lung volumes yield similar results to physiologic methods in normal subjects, but can differ significantly in patients with lung disease.
Why the study?
How do imaging techniques compare to traditional methods for measuring absolute lung volumes in children and adults?
How do imaging techniques compare to traditional methods for measuring absolute lung volumes in children and adults?
Imaging techniques provide comparable lung volume measurements to traditional methods in healthy subjects, but results may diverge in patients with lung disease.
Clinicians should not interchange imaging and physiologic lung volume measures in disease; leaves open disease-specific validation studies.
In this paper, the techniques available for estimating total lung capacities from standard chest radiographs in children and infants as well as adults are reviewed. These techniques include manual measurements using ellipsoid and planimetry techniques as well as computerized systems. Techniques are also available for making radiographic lung volume measurements from portable chest radiographs. There are inadequate data in the literature to support recommending one specific technique over another. Though measurements of lung volumes by radiographic, plethysmographic, gas dilution or washout techniques result in remarkably similar mean results when groups of normal subjects are tested, in patients with disease, the results of these different basic measurement techniques can differ significantly. Computed tomographic and magnetic resonance techniques can also be used to measure absolute lung volumes and offer the theoretical advantages that the results in individual subjects are less affected by variances of thoracic shape than are measurements made using conventional chest radiographs.
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Jack L. Clausen (1997) reported a review. Imaging techniques (radiographs, CT, MRI) for absolute lung volume measurement vs. Plethysmographic, gas dilution or washout techniques was evaluated. Imaging techniques for measuring lung volumes yield similar results to physiologic methods in normal subjects, but can differ significantly in patients with lung disease.
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