Diffusion lung capacity for carbon monoxide correlates with HRCT findings in patients with diffuse parenchymal lung disease. Diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLDs) affect the alveolar epithelium, pulmonary capillary endothelium, basement membrane, and perivascular and perilymphatic tissues. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest is the gold standard modality for diagnosing DPLD. Pulmonary function tests usually show a restrictive defect in spirometry. Single breath diffusion lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO-SB) technique is used to assess the diffuse parenchymal lung diseases, as there is thickening of the alveolar membrane and diminished total lung capacity due to interstitial processes with severe decline in the transfer factor. The aim of this work was to correlate between Warrick’s HRCT fibrosis score and DLCO-SB in DPLD and to assess the possibility of using DLCO as an only tool to follow up DPLD to avoid repeated radiation exposure of the patients in HRCT chest (decrease need for radiological follow-up) or vice versa. This work recruited 89 patients over a period of 10 months duration, 74.2% of them were females. The Warrick’s score, ground-glass opacity, irregular pleural margin, subpleural cyst, honeycombing, and septal and subpleural lines were represented as 96.6%, 70.8%, 55.1%, 49.4%, and 48.3% respectively in HRCT of DPLD. Warrick’s score and its subscores (severity score, extent score, alveolitis score, and fibrosis score) were associated with a highly significant decrease in different pulmonary function indices (FVC, FEV1, TLC, and DLCO) with P value 0.001. A highly significant correlation between DLCO grades and total score grades was found with P value 0.001, and 86.8% of the patients with severe DLCO affection showed severe degree of total fibrosis score. Both DLCO-SB and HRCT fibrosis scores were significantly correlated. Lifelong follow-up of function and structure of the lung in DPLD is needed by HRCT and DLCO. In an attempt to minimize repeated radiation exposure and reduce cost, we suggest DLCO to be used alone for longer follow-up periods rather than HRCT chest.

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弥漫性肺实质疾病患者肺部一氧化碳扩散能力与HRCT结果相关

弥漫性肺实质疾病患者的肺部一氧化碳扩散能力与HRCT结果相关。弥漫性实质性肺部疾病（DPLD）影响肺泡上皮，肺毛细血管内皮，基底膜以及血管周围和淋巴组织。胸部的高分辨率计算机断层扫描（HRCT）是诊断DPLD的金标准。肺功能检查通常显示肺活量检查有局限性缺陷。一氧化碳的单次呼吸扩散肺活量（DLCO-SB）技术用于评估弥散性实质性肺疾病，因为由于间质过程导致肺泡膜增厚和总肺活量减少，且转移因子严重下降。这项工作的目的是将Warrick的HRCT纤维化评分与DPLD中的DLCO-SB相关联，并评估使用DLCO作为随访DPLD的唯一工具以避免HRCT胸部患者反复放射线照射的可能性（减少对放射学随访），反之亦然。这项工作在10个月的时间里招募了89名患者，其中74.2％是女性。在DPLD的HRCT中，Warrick评分，玻璃杯混浊度，不规则的胸膜缘，胸膜下囊肿，蜂窝状以及间隔和胸膜下线分别占96.6％，70.8％，55.1％，49.4％和48.3％。Warrick评分及其子评分（严重程度评分，程度评分，肺泡炎评分和纤维化评分）与不同肺功能指数（FVC，FEV1，TLC和DLCO）的显着降低相关，P值为0.001。DLCO等级与总评分等级之间存在高度显着的相关性，P值为0.001，严重DLCO受影响的患者中有86.8％的人表现出严重的总纤维化评分。DLCO-SB和HRCT纤维化评分均显着相关。HRCT和DLCO需要对DPLD中的肺功能和结构进行终生随访。为了尽量减少重复的辐射暴露并降低成本，我们建议将DLCO单独用于更长的随访时间，而不要用于HRCT胸部。HRCT和DLCO需要对DPLD中的肺功能和结构进行终生随访。为了尽量减少重复的辐射暴露并降低成本，我们建议将DLCO单独用于更长的随访时间，而不要用于HRCT胸部。HRCT和DLCO需要对DPLD中的肺功能和结构进行终生随访。为了尽量减少重复的辐射暴露并降低成本，我们建议将DLCO单独用于更长的随访时间，而不要用于HRCT胸部。