CT assessment of pulmonary emphysema using teleradiology.
OBJECTIVE
The present study assessed the usefulness of CT for diagnosis of pulmonary emphysema (PE) using teleradiology.


METHODS
We reviewed 95 cases (56 men and 39 women, ranging in age from 18 to 89 years) who had undergone CT examination between June 2002 and January 2003. CT images were transmitted via ISDN by DICOM to our hospital, and displayed in 4-image and 1-image format for reading on an image viewer.


RESULTS
In 72 of the total 95 cases, both 1-image and 4-image displays were normal, and no PE was detected. Of the remaining 23 patients, PE was found in 22 on 4-image display and in all 23 on 1-image display. The same grade and subtype were observed on 4-image and 1-image displays in 19 cases. On the other hand, difference in diagnosis between the two types of display was obtained in four cases, in which mild low attenuation areas (LAAs) such as grade 1 or grade 2 centrilobular emphysema were found on the 1-image display but not seen on the 4-image display.


CONCLUSIONS
The diagnosis of PE can be made by CT examination using teleradiology even in cases of mild lesions, when, for example, LAAs were found on the 1-image display but not seen on the other one. Therefore, teleradiology enables rapid diagnosis even in medical institutions where no expert chest radiologist is present.
Satoh
Katashi
K
Department of Radiology, Kagawa University Faculty of Medicine, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan.
Fukunaga
Kotaro
K
Yamashita
Yasutoshi
Y
Yamamoto
Yuka
Y
Nishiyama
Yoshihiro
Y
Mitani
Masahiro
M
Toyama
Yoshihiro
Y
Ohkawa
Motoomi
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019112:Teleradiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed