Quantitative thoracic CT techniques in adults: can they be applied in the pediatric population?

With the rapid evolution of the multidetector row CT technique, quantitative CT has started to be used in clinical studies for revealing a heterogeneous entity of airflow limitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that is caused by a combination of lung parenchymal destruction and remodeling of the small airways in adults. There is growing evidence of a good correlation between quantitative CT findings and pathological findings, pulmonary function test results and other clinical parameters. This article provides an overview of current quantitative thoracic CT techniques used in adults, and how to translate these CT techniques to the pediatric population.