title: CT virtual bronchoscopy of the central airways in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare CT virtual bronchoscopy (VB) to CT alone and to conventional bronchoscopy for evaluation of central airway stenoses in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective observer study, in which 18 thin-section helical CT scans of the trachea and bronchi of 11 patients with Wegener's granulomatosis were obtained. VB was performed using surface rendering and was evaluated by one bronchoscopist and one radiologist in a blinded fashion. Bronchoscopic correlation within an average of 1.8 days of CT was available.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VB displayed 188 of 198 bronchi (95%). Thirty-two of 40 stenoses (80%) were detected by VB by at least one of two physicians (double reading), and 22 of 40 stenoses (55%) were detected by a third physician reading only the CT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VB depicts bronchi to the segmental level and detects the majority of central airway stenoses in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis. A team approach is useful to attain optimal clinical benefit from VB for these patients.
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Radiology Department, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1182, USA. rms@nih.gov
authors.forename: Ronald M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: Neil R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sneller
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Bradford J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Langford
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shelhamer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001995:Bronchography; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D005260:Female; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014135:Tracheal Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014584:User-Computer Interface