Correlation of 68Ga Ventilation-Perfusion PET/CT with Pulmonary Function Test Indices for Assessing Lung Function.
Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are routinely used to assess lung function, but they do not provide information about regional pulmonary dysfunction. We aimed to assess correlation of quantitative ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) PET/CT with PFT indices.


METHODS
Thirty patients underwent V/Q PET/CT and PFT. Respiration-gated images were acquired after inhalation of (68)Ga-carbon nanoparticles and administration of (68)Ga-macroaggregated albumin. Functional volumes were calculated by dividing the volume of normal ventilated and perfused (%NVQ), unmatched and matched defects by the total lung volume. These functional volumes were correlated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO).


RESULTS
All functional volumes were significantly different in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P < 0.05). FEV1/FVC and %NVQ had the highest correlation (r = 0.82). FEV1 was also best correlated with %NVQ (r = 0.64). DLCO was best correlated with the volume of unmatched defects (r = -0.55). Considering %NVQ only, a cutoff value of 90% correctly categorized 28 of 30 patients with or without significant pulmonary function impairment.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrates strong correlations between V/Q PET/CT functional volumes and PFT parameters. Because V/Q PET/CT is able to assess regional lung function, these data support the feasibility of its use in radiation therapy and preoperative planning and assessing pulmonary dysfunction in a variety of respiratory diseases.
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia Department of Nuclear Medicine, Brest University Hospital, EA3878 (GETBO) IFR 148, Brest, France pierre-yves.leroux@chu-brest.fr michael.hofman@petermac.org.
Pierre-Yves
PY
Le Roux
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and.
Shankar
S
Siva
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and Respiratory Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Daniel P
DP
Steinfort
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia.
Jason
J
Callahan
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia.
Peter
P
Eu
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and Respiratory Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Lou B
LB
Irving
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and.
Rodney J
RJ
Hicks
Division of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and pierre-yves.leroux@chu-brest.fr michael.hofman@petermac.org.
Michael S
MS
Hofman
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000418:Albumins / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053758:Nanoparticles; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio; D014797:Vital Capacity
D000418:Albumins; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
PET/CT; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; perfusion; pulmonary function tests; ventilation