Is the predicted postoperative FEV1 estimated by planar lung perfusion scintigraphy accurate in patients undergoing pulmonary resection? Comparison of two processing methods

• Published in: Annals of nuclear medicine 2010-07, Vol.24 (6), p.447-453
• Main Authors: Caglar, Meltem, Kara, Murat, Aksoy, Tamer, Kiratli, Pinar Ozgen, Karabulut, Erdem, Dogan, Rıza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Imaging; Lung - diagnostic imaging; Lung - physiopathology; Lung - surgery; Lung Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Lung Neoplasms - physiopathology; Lung Neoplasms - surgery; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nuclear Medicine; Original Article; Perfusion Imaging; Postoperative Period; Radiology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0914-7187; 1864-6433
• DOI: 10.1007/s12149-010-0378-6

Background Estimation of postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) with radionuclide lung scintigraphy is frequently used to define functional operability in patients undergoing lung resection. We conducted a study to outline the reliability of planar quantitative lung perfusion scintigraphy (QLPS) with two different processing methods to estimate the postoperative lung function in patients with resectable lung disease. Methods Forty-one patients with a mean age of 57 ± 12 years who underwent either a pneumonectomy ( n  = 14) or a lobectomy ( n  = 27) were included in the study. QLPS with Tc-99m macroaggregated albumin was performed. Both three equal zones were generated for each lung [zone method (ZM)] and more precise regions of interest were drawn according to their anatomical shape in the anterior and posterior projections [lobe mapping method (LMM)] for each patient. The predicted postoperative (ppo) FEV1 values were compared with actual FEV1 values measured on postoperative day 1 (pod1 FEV1) and day 7 (pod 7 FEV1). Results The mean of preoperative FEV1 and ppoFEV1 values was 2.10 ± 0.57 and 1.57 ± 0.44 L, respectively. The mean of Pod1FEV1 (1.04 ± 0.30 L) was lower than ppoFEV1 ( p