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Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Author Spotlight: Enhancing Diagnostic Strategies and Biomarker Development for Comprehensive Lung Function Analysis
Published on: August 9, 2024
Relationship between pulmonary blood flow and volume following lung resection using dynamic perfusion digital
Jun Hanaoka1, Kazuki Hayashi2, Takuya Shiratori1
1Division of General Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan.
Background:
Surgical intervention for lung resection can cause ventilation-perfusion mismatches and affect gas exchange; however, minimally invasive assessment of blood flow is difficult. This study aimed to evaluate changes in pulmonary blood flow after radical lung cancer surgery using a minimally invasive dynamic digital chest radiography system.
Methods:
We evaluated 64 patients who underwent radical lobectomies. Postoperative changes in pulmonary blood flow, assessed using dynamic chest radiography-based blood flow ratios (BFRs), were compared with the temporal evolution of both functional lung volumes (FLVs) and estimated lung weight (ELW) derived from computed tomography (CT) volumetry.
Results:
FLVs on the affected side gradually recovered over time from the lowest value observed 3 months after surgery in all procedures. BFRs on the affected side also showed a gradual recovery from the lowest value 1 month after surgery, except for left upper lobectomies (LULs). In LULs, FLVs and ELWs increased proportionally up to 3 months after surgery, with lung volumes continuing to increase thereafter. The recovery of BFRs differed depending on the resected lobe.
Conclusions:
A relationship between pulmonary blood flow and FLV was observed in the postoperative period. Despite varying compensatory responses depending on the surgical procedure, FLV recovery coincided with increased pulmonary blood flow.
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