CT of pulmonary emphysema - current status, challenges, and future directions
by D. Litmanovich, PM Boiselle, AA Bankier
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Abstract
Pulmonary emphysema is characterized by irreversible destruction of lung
parenchyma. Emphysema is a major contributor to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which
by itself is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world. Computed tomography
(CT) is an established method for the in-vivo analysis of emphysema.
This review first details the pathological basis of emphysema and shows how the subtypes of
emphysema can be characterized by CT. The review then shows how CT is used to quantify emphysema,
and describes the requirements and foundations for quantification to be accurate. Finally, the
review discusses new challenges and their potential solution, notably focused on multi-detector-row
CT, and emphasizes the open questions that future research on CT of pulmonary emphysema will have
to address.
