CT virtual bronchoscopy of the central airways in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis.
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.
Summers
Ronald M
RM
Diagnostic Radiology Department, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1182, USA. rms@nih.gov
Aggarwal
Neil R
NR
Sneller
Michael C
MC
Cowan
Mark J
MJ
Wood
Bradford J
BJ
Langford
Carol A
CA
Shelhamer
James H
JH
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