Krypton ventilation imaging using dual-energy CT in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: initial...

To evaluate the tolerance and level of enhancement achievable after inhalation of stable krypton.

This study was approved by the institutional review board and the local ethics committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. The study was planned as a Fleming two-stage design, enabling one to assess the effectiveness of a newer treatment or technique on a small number of patients. At the end of each stage, the results are computed, and the trial can be stopped if the effectiveness is less than a minimum success rate or greater than an expected success rate. After informed consent was obtained, a total of 32 patients (ie, two successive series of 16 patients each) with severe emphysema underwent a dual-source, dual-energy chest computed tomographic (CT) examination after inhalation of a mixture of stable krypton (80%) and oxygen (20%), with reconstruction of diagnostic and ventilation images. For each patient, two regions of interest were selected on a diagnostic image, one in a region of severe emphysema (presumed to be poorly ventilated or not ventilated) and a second one in a region devoid of structural abnormalities (presumed to be normally ventilated), with measurements of attenuation values on the corresponding ventilation image.

All examinations were successfully performed, without adverse effects. Differences in attenuation between normal lung and emphysematous areas were found in 28 patients (88%; 95% confidence interval: 71%, 96.5%). The maximal level of attenuation within normal lung was 18.5 HU. Krypton attenuation difference between normal and emphysematous lung was significant, with a median value of 51.8% (P < .001).

The level of enhancement after inhalation of krypton and its excellent clinical tolerance makes this gas eligible for ventilation CT examinations.