OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the optimal method of predicting postoperative pulmonary function (PPF) after lung lobectomy. METHODS: The forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV(1)) was measured in 37 patients before and after lobectomy, and the following three methods of predicting the PPF were evaluated: (1) the number of functioning subsegments to be resected were counted (subsegments counting [SC]); (2) the volume of the functioning lung was calculated using CT images (quantitative CT); and (3) perfusion scintigraphy was performed using co-registered single photon emission computed tomography and CT imaging (SPECT/CT). The FEV(1) values predicted using these three methods were then compared with the measured postoperative FEV(1), and the correlations and differences were analyzed. RESULTS: While a paired t-test showed the SPECT/CT method to have the smallest difference between the measured and the predicted FEV(1) values (0.05 l, p=0.33), followed by the quantitative CT method (0.07 l, p=0.07), and finally the SC method (0.15 l, p<0.001), the difference between the two values was not significantly different between the quantitative CT and SPECT/CT method (p=0.22). CONCLUSIONS: While the SC method is inferior to both the quantitative CT and the SPECT/CT methods for predicting the PPF after lobectomy, the latter two methods are almost equally accurate.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the optimal method of predicting postoperative pulmonary function (PPF) after lung lobectomy. METHODS: The forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV(1)) was measured in 37 patients before and after lobectomy, and the following three methods of predicting the PPF were evaluated: (1) the number of functioning subsegments to be resected were counted (subsegments counting [SC]); (2) the volume of the functioning lung was calculated using CT images (quantitative CT); and (3) perfusion scintigraphy was performed using co-registered single photon emission computed tomography and CT imaging (SPECT/CT). The FEV(1) values predicted using these three methods were then compared with the measured postoperative FEV(1), and the correlations and differences were analyzed. RESULTS: While a paired t-test showed the SPECT/CT method to have the smallest difference between the measured and the predicted FEV(1) values (0.05 l, p=0.33), followed by the quantitative CT method (0.07 l, p=0.07), and finally the SC method (0.15 l, p<0.001), the difference between the two values was not significantly different between the quantitative CT and SPECT/CT method (p=0.22). CONCLUSIONS: While the SC method is inferior to both the quantitative CT and the SPECT/CT methods for predicting the PPF after lobectomy, the latter two methods are almost equally accurate.