实时组织弹性成像技术在无创评价慢性乙型肝炎肝纤维化中的应用

目的:探讨实时组织弹性成像方法在无创评价慢性乙型肝炎肝纤维化中的应用。方法:应用组织弥散定量分析软件分析98例慢性乙型肝炎后肝硬化组、100例健康者(健康对照组)的肝脏硬度,得到11个弹性图像的特征量,包括应变均值、标准差、蓝色区域%、复杂度、峰值、偏度、对比度、均等性、杂乱性、一致性、相关性。结果:健康对照组与肝硬化组弹性图像特征量的应变均值、标准差、蓝色区域%、复杂度、峰度、偏度、对比度、均等性、杂乱性、一致性、相关性分别为114.96±37.54/100.07±17.73、51.85±29.69/59.76±11.00、15.00±7.94/28.83±15.85、23.57±5.72/32.83±14.55、2.80±0.45/2.73±0.59、0.25±0.18/0.48±0.35、163.07±54.31/225.40±94.82、3.83±0.09/3.77±0.24、0.12±0.17/0.14±0.04、0.01±0.00/0.01±0.00、0.96±0.03/0.96±0.00;肝脏硬度指数1.97±0.56/2.47±1.00。肝纤维化组与健康对照组间,除相关性、一致性、均等性无统计学意义(P>0.05)外,其余各值均有统计学差异(P<0.01)。结论:实时组织弹性成像技术的组织弥散定量分析软件有助于肝脏硬度的评估,可成为无创评价慢性乙型肝炎肝硬化的有效方法。     

组织弥散定量分析运用于肝纤维化程度判定的研究

目的：探讨超声弹性成像组织弥散定量分析对肝纤维化程度判定的应用价值,以期为肝病患者的病情评估及早期预防提供方法。方法选取2011年1月～2013年7月消化内科150例慢性乙肝患者为试验组研究对象,行肝脏穿刺术,根据肝纤维化病理分期标准分为5期（S0～S4）。另选取健康志愿者40例为对照组。所有研究对象均行超声成像检查组织弥散定量分析。比较试验组与对照组研究对象中11项组织弥散特征量之间的差异性,并根据统计学结果,将有统计学意义的指标进行试验组不同病理分期患者组内比较,并分析其与肝纤维化病理分期的相关性。结果在11个弹性特征量中,试验组应变均值较对照组明显降低,蓝色领域百分比较对照组明显增高,差异有统计学意义（P均＜0.05）。在试验组患者中,随着肝纤维化病理分期的增高,应变均值逐渐降低,而蓝色领域百分比逐渐增高,结果具有统计学意义（ P均＜0．05）。spearman相关性分析显示,肝纤维化病理分期与组织应变均值存在显著负相关关系（ r＝-0．931, P ＝0．000）,与蓝色区域所占百分比存在显著正相关关系（ r ＝0．913, P ＝0．000）。结论超声弹性成像组织弥散定量作为一种无创监测技术能够间接判断肝纤维化病理分期的程度,值得在临床上广泛应用,对肝病患者疾病的评估及早期预防性治疗,具有重要意义。     

弹性成像对部队官兵精索静脉曲张术后评估的初步研究

目的利用超声弹性成像组织弥散定量分析技术(UE)探讨部队官兵精索静脉曲张(VC)患者手术前后睾丸组织硬度的变化。方法选取左侧VC需行手术治疗的部队官兵58例(VC组),另以同期无VC的健康志愿者36例为对照组,术前1周及术后6个月对所有受检者进行常规超声扫查后,使用组织弹性成像技术进行组织弥散定量分析,测量感兴趣区域(ROI)内应变均值。结果 VC术前睾丸组织应变值较对照组增高(P<0.05),VC术后睾丸组织应变值较术前降低(P<0.05),与对照组比较睾丸组织应变均值无统计学差异(P>0.05)。结论睾丸组织应变值可作为评价部队官兵精索静脉曲张患者睾丸组织硬度及评估术后疗效的指标。     

不同成像设备、场强及脉冲序列MR弹性成像测量肝脏硬度的一致性与可重复性研究

<正>摘要目的前瞻性评价不同制造商、场强及脉冲序列的MR弹性成像测量肝脏硬度的一致性和可重复性。材料与方法本前瞻性横向研究经审查委员会批准,所有受试者签署知     

大脑磁共振弥散张量成像研究进展

弥散张量成像(diffusion tensor imaging DTI)是一种新近应用于临床的具有无创伤性优点的新的磁共振成像方法,其可以定量分析大脑的微细结构,如可定量分析病变组织和正常组织的弥散特征,从而为疾病的诊断和鉴别诊断提供更多的信息.     

计算机辅助定量分析灰阶超声在腕管综合征诊断中的应用

【摘要】目的：采用计算机辅助定量分析腕管综合征（CTS）的灰阶超声图像,探讨其在定量分析CTS中的应用价值。方法：搜集60例CTS患者（77个异常手腕）和30例正常志愿者（60个正常手腕）,其中17例为双侧卡压,在豌豆骨水平保留正中神经图像,共得到137组图像,并且在二维图像上对正中神经进行勾勒,提取正中神经卡压的客观数据,为CTS的诊断提供依据。结果：CTS患者病灶区域像素的均值、标准差、变异系数、偏度、峰度均比正常组大;CTS患者直方图熵较正常组大;正常组亮度熵较CTS组大;而CTS患者整个灰阶区域像素中的均值、中值较正常组低;CTS患者所有表示对比度的参数均高于正常组;CTS患者病灶的厚度、长度、面积、长轴、短轴、周长等参数均较正常组大。表明在CTS患者中,图像分布较正常对照组欠均匀,且CTS患者正中神经较正常肿胀,横截面积增大。结论：计算机辅助定量分析在CTS中表现良好,可定量分析正中神经卡压时图像的均匀性和对比度。     

RESOLVE-DWI和常规DWI对宫颈癌图像质量的对比研究

目的比较高清弥散(RESOLVE-DWI)和常规弥散两种成像方式下宫颈癌的图像质量,探讨RESOLVE-DWI在宫颈癌成像中的优势和可行性。方法收集经手术病理证实为宫颈癌的患者46例,所有患者均行常规DWI和RESOLVE-DWI检查。测量计算两组DWI图像的信噪比(SNR)、对比度(C)、对比噪声比(CNR)以进行客观对比评价。图像质量的主观评价由两名放射科医师按Likert 7分法对两组DWI图像进行评分,评分内容包括图像清晰度和整体质量。结果 RESOLVE-DWI与常规DWI在图像质量的客观指标以及主观评分对比差异均具有统计学意义(P值均0.05),并且两名读片医师的评分一致性较好。结论对比常规DWI,RESOLVE-DWI可优化弥散加权图像质量。     

自旋回波EPI MR弹性成像与梯度回波MR弹性成像评价疑似肝病儿童和青年病人的肝脏硬度

正摘要目的对比二维梯度回波(2D GRE)和二维自旋回波-平面回波成像(2D SE-EPI)MR弹性成像在测量疑似肝病儿童和青年病人肝脏硬度中的应用。材料与方法本研究经机构伦理委员会批准并符合HIPAA,58例病人在1.5 T屏气状态下行2D GRE和2D SE-EPI MR弹性成像检查。5名医师采用盲法测定肝脏硬度(平均值;k Pa)。采用配对t检验分别比较平均肝硬度和兴趣区(ROI)大小。采用组内相关系数(ICC)评估不同技术之间的一致性,Fisher确切概率检验进行序列之间呼吸运动伪影的比较。结果病人平均年龄     

脑肿瘤MR弹性成像的初步临床研究

目的 探讨MR弹性成像(MRE)在脑肿瘤手术前评价其硬度的价值.方法 14例常规影像检查确定为实性脑肿瘤患者(男5例、女9例,年龄16～63岁),术前接受脑MRE检查,以脑白质为参照对肿瘤硬度进行评价.采用自行研制的用于脑MRE成像的激发装置,固定于头线圈上,并与患者头部固定,产生低频率振荡经颅骨传至颅内,引起剪切波在脑组织内传播;脉冲序列采用相位对比梯度回波序列,获得相位图像,从而显示脑组织内剪切波的传播.相位图像经局部频率估算法(LFE)处理后获得弹性图像;肿瘤的硬度在术中与正常脑白质对比,由术者判断分为偏软、中等和偏硬.将MRE的评价结果与手术结果作对照.结果 MRE检查结果显示,1例肿瘤的弹性模量低于正常脑白质、11例高于正常脑白质、2例与正常脑白质相似;术中检查1例肿瘤硬度偏软、11例偏硬,2例中等.14例由MRE评估的肿瘤弹性均与手术结果相符.结论 MRE可以无创地显示脑肿瘤的弹性,在术前对脑肿瘤的硬度进行评价.     

磁共振弹性成像技术在肿瘤中的应用及研究进展

肿瘤组织的硬度与肿瘤的发展、浸润、远处转移、放化疗抵抗以及手术方式的选择密切相关,因此准确评估肿瘤组织硬度对于肿瘤的诊断、手术方式的选择及预后评估具有重要意义。磁共振弹性成像是通过机械波定量测量组织弹性剪切力的动态成像方法。磁共振弹性成像作为一种非侵入性的技术可以定量分析在体组织的机械性能（硬度）。它是传统触诊机械化、定量化的一种手段,不仅客观且分辨率高,又不受诊断部位的限制,因此具有良好的研究和应用前景。笔者将综述目前磁共振弹性成像的原理以及其在乳腺、前列腺、脑、肝脏及胰腺等肿瘤中的应用和研究进展。     

Improved lesion detection in MR mammography: three-dimensional segmentation, moving voxel sampling, and normalized maximum intensity-time ratio entropy

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this work was to develop a quantitative method for improving lesion detection in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance mammography (DCEMRM). For this purpose, we segmented and analyzed suspicious regions according to their contrast enhancement dynamics, generated a normalized maximum intensity-time ratio (nMITR) projection, and explored it to extract important features, to improve accuracy and reproducibility of detection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A novel automated method is introduced to segment and analyze lesions in three dimensions. It consists of four consecutive stages: volume of interest selection, nMITR projection generation using a voxel sampling method based on a moving 3 x 3 mask, three-dimensional lesion segmentation, and feature extraction. The nMITR projection of the detected lesion is used to extract six features: mean, maximum, standard deviation, kurtosis, skewness, and entropy, and their diagnostic significance is studied in detail. High-resolution MR images of 52 breast masses from 46 women are analyzed using the technique developed. RESULTS: Entropy, standard deviation, and the maximum and mean value features were found to have high significance (P < 0.001) and diagnostic accuracy (0.86-0.97). The kurtosis and skewness were not significant. Automated analysis of DCEMRM using nMITR was shown to be feasible. CONCLUSION: The lesion detection method described is efficient and leads to improved, accurate, reproducible diagnoses. It is reliable in terms of observer variability and may allow for a better standardization of clinical evaluations. The findings demonstrate the usefulness of nMITR based features; nMITR-entropy shows the best performance for quantitative diagnosis.     

Percent change of perfusion skewness and kurtosis: a potential imaging biomarker for early treatment response in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas

Purpose: To test the predictive value of skewness and kurtosis changes of normalized cerebral blood volume (nCBV) during the early treatment period for differentiating early tumor progression from pseudoprogression in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas. Materials and Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study. The authors assessed 135 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas who underwent concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CCRT) after surgical resection. Patients who developed new or enlarged contrast material-enhanced lesions after CCRT were assessed by means of conventional and perfusion magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The percent change of skewness and kurtosis on nCBV histograms between the first and second post-CCRT follow-up were classified into four categories. Independent predictors of early tumor progression were determined by means of logistic regression analysis. Results: Of 135 patients, 79 had new or enlarged contrast-enhanced lesions after CCRT, subsequently classified as early tumor progression (n = 42, 53.2%) and pseudoprogression (n = 37, 46.8%). Pseudoprogression was observed in 23 of 24 (95.8%) patients in category 1, 10 of 15 (66.7%) in category 2, four of 20 (20.0%) in category 3, and 0 of 20 (0%) in category 4 (χ(2) test, P < .0001). The histographic pattern of nCBV was the best independent predictor (odds ratio, 3.51; P = .0032) for early tumor progression, rather than each percent change of skewness or kurtosis; the histographic pattern of nCBV represented the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.934; 95% confidence interval: 0.855, 0.977), with a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 89.2%. Conclusion: The percent change of skewness and kurtosis of nCBV may be a potential imaging biomarker for early treatment response in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas. ? RSNA, 2012.     

应用CT纹理分析瘤周脂肪评价肾透明细胞癌分级的价值

目的探讨CT纹理分析瘤周脂肪在评估肾透明细胞癌(CCRCC)术前病理分级的可行性。方法选取经手术病理证实并术前行CT增强检查的CCRCC患者94例,其中I级13例,II级55例,III级25例,IV级1例。进一步将其分为低级别组(I级+II级)68例,高级别组(III+IV级)26例。选取皮质期图像,利用Omni-Kinetics纹理分析软件分析肿瘤周围脂肪组织的纹理特征,包括最大值、均数、标准差、偏度、峰度、能量及熵。采用独立样本t检验比较2组计量资料之间的差异,构建ROC曲线评价其诊断效能。结果在CT增强图像低级别CCRCC的最大值、均数、标准差和熵小于高级别CCRCC,差异有统计学意义;能量大于高级别CCRCC,差异有统计学意义。偏度和峰度差异无统计学意义。在高低级别CCRCC的鉴别中,最大值AUC为0.885,以25.500为阈值,敏感性为73.50%,特异性为88.50%;均数AUC为0.679,以-84.027为阈值,敏感性为55.90%,特异性为80.80%;标准差AUC为0.634,以22.290为阈值,敏感性为67.60%,特异性为65.40%;能量AUC为0.912,以0.016为阈值,敏感性为91.20%,特异性为80.80%,熵AUC为0.900,以6.312为阈值,敏感性为95.60%,特异性为76.70%。结论低级别CCRCC和高级别CCRCC瘤周脂肪之间的纹理特征存在差异,纹理分析瘤周脂肪有助于鉴别CCRCC分级。     

纹理分析用于心肌淀粉样变性和肥厚型心肌病鉴别诊断的可行性研究

目的:评价磁共振成像结合纹理分析技术对心肌淀粉样变性与肥厚型心肌病的鉴别诊断价值.方法:经心内膜活检证实的心肌淀粉样变性轻链型(CA)患者18例及经临床确诊的肥厚型心肌病患者18例,均采用3.0T MR标准化扫描获得电影序列图像,使用TexRad软件对所有患者左心室中段两腔短轴位图像进行取样分析,选择不同的空间缩放因子(SSF,取值为0和2～6),获得在不同纹理过滤尺度下代表纹理特征的5个参数值(包括均值、标准差、峰度、偏度、熵值),采用Mann-Whitney U检验进行组间比较,并使用ROC曲线评估各参数的诊断效能.结果:心肌淀粉样变性和肥厚型心肌病的熵值、峰度和偏度间的差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.05).诊断心肌淀粉样变性ROC曲线分析结果显示,SSF=3时取熵值≥2.68,诊断淀粉样变性的曲线下面积最大(0.87),诊断敏度87.2％,特异度为90.9％、符合率为88.0％.结论:纹理分析可用于心肌淀粉样变性和肥厚型心肌病的鉴别诊断,相比传统鉴别方法具有无需使用对比剂且缩短检查时间的优势.     

Pre-Operative Perfusion Skewness and Kurtosis Are Potential Predictors of Progression-Free Survival after Partial Resection of Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma

Objective

To determine whether pre-operative perfusion skewness and kurtosis derived from normalized cerebral blood volume (nCBV) histograms are associated with progression-free survival (PFS) of patients after partial resection of newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Materials and Methods

A total of 135 glioblastoma patients who had undergone partial resection of tumor (resection of < 50% of pre-operative tumor volume or surgical biopsy) confirmed with immediate postsurgical MRI and examined with both conventional MRI and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion MRI before the surgery were retrospectively reviewed in this study. They had been followed up post-surgical chemoradiotherapy for tumor progression. Using histogram analyses of nCBV derived from pre-operative DSC perfusion MRI, patients were sub-classified into the following four groups: positive skewness and leptokurtosis (group 1); positive skewness and platykurtosis (group 2); negative skewness and leptokurtosis (group 3); negative skewness and platykurtosis (group 4). Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were performed to determine whether clinical and imaging covariates were associated with PFS or overall survival (OS) of these patients.

Results

According to the Kaplan-Meier method, median PFS of group 1, 2, 3, and 4 was 62, 51, 39, and 41 weeks, respectively, with median OS of 82, 77, 77, and 72 weeks, respectively. In multivariable analyses with Cox proportional hazards regression, pre-operative skewness/kurtosis pattern (hazard ratio: 2.98 to 4.64; p < 0.001), Karnofsky performance scale score (hazard ratio: 1.04; p = 0.003), and post-operative tumor volume (hazard ratio: 1.04; p = 0.02) were independently associated with PFS but not with OS.

Conclusion

Higher skewness and kurtosis of nCBV histogram before surgery were associated with longer PFS in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma after partial tumor resection.     

Machine-learning integration of CT histogram analysis to evaluate the composition of atherosclerotic plaques: Validation with IB-IVUS

BackgroundTo determine whether machine learning with histogram analysis of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) yields higher diagnostic performance for coronary plaque characterization than the conventional cut-off method using the median CT number.MethodsWe included 78 patients with 78 coronary plaques who had undergone CCTA and integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound (IB-IVUS) studies. IB-IVUS diagnosed 32 as fibrous- and 46 as fatty or fibro-fatty plaques. We recorded the coronary CT number and 7 histogram parameters (minimum and mean value, standard deviation (SD), maximum value, skewness, kurtosis, and entropy) of the plaque CT number. We also evaluated the importance of each feature using the Gini index which rates the importance of individual features. For calculations we used XGBoost. Using 5-fold cross validation of the plaque CT number, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the machine learning- (extreme gradient boosting) and the conventional cut-off method was compared.ResultsThe median CT number was 56.38 Hounsfield units (HU, 8.00–95.90) for fibrous- and 1.15 HU (−35.8–113.30) for fatty- or fibro-fatty plaques. The calculated optimal threshold for the plaque CT number was 36.1 ± 2.8 HU. The highest Gini index was the coronary CT number (0.19) followed by the minimum value (0.17), kurtosis (0.17), entropy (0.14), skewness (0.11), the mean value (0.11), the standard deviation (0.06), and the maximum value (0.05), and energy (0.00). By validation analysis, the machine learning-yielded a significantly higher area under the curve than the conventional method (area under the curve 0.92 and 95%, confidence interval 0.86–0.92 vs 0.83 and 0.75–0.92, p = 0.001).ConclusionThe machine learning-was superior the conventional cut-off method for coronary plaque characterization using the plaque CT number on CCTA images.     

超声弹性成像参数诊断慢性乙型肝炎肝纤维化临床分析

目的探讨超声弹性成像(RTE)参数在慢性乙肝肝纤维化中诊断价值。方法选取我院慢性乙肝肝纤维化患者79例设为观察组,另选取同期健康体检者79例设为对照组。两组均实施RTE检查,并给予观察组对应治疗措施。对比观察组及对照组、观察组不同疾病分期患者RTE参数〔峰度(KURT)、偏度(SKEW)、复杂度(COMP)、对比度(CONT)、标准差(SD)、应变均值(MEAN)〕,采用Pearson分析RTE参数与疾病分期关联性,采用接收者操作特征(ROC)曲线及ROC下面积(AUC)分析RTE诊断价值。结果观察组KURT、MEAN小于对照组,SKEW、COMP、CONT、SD大于对照组(P<0.05);随疾病分期增高,KURT、MEAN呈降低趋势,SKEW、COMP、CONT、SD呈增高趋势(P<0.05);KURT、MEAN与慢性乙肝肝纤维化疾病分期呈负相关,SKEW、COMP、CONT、SD与疾病分期间呈正相关(P<0.05);诊断慢性乙肝肝纤维化的AUC:KURT为0.774,SKEW为0.680,COMP为0.809,CONT为0.735,SD为0.781,MEAN为0.820(P<0.05);治疗后KURT、MEAN较治疗前增高,SKEW、COMP、CONT、SD较治疗前降低(P<0.05)。结论RTE参数可鉴别诊断慢性乙肝肝纤维化,与疾病分期显著相关,并能无创、重复性监测抗肝纤维化治疗的疗效。     

CT纹理分析技术鉴别甲状腺良恶性结节可行性研究

目的探讨CT纹理分析技术在鉴别甲状腺良恶性结节中的价值。方法回顾性分析经我院手术病理证实的甲状腺病变病人35例,共42个病灶,其中恶性结节26个,良性结节16个。所有病人治疗前均行颈部增强CT扫描。将DICOM格式的CT增强图像(层厚和层间距均为5 mm)导入CT Kinetics软件进行纹理及直方图分析得到未经滤过的原始细纹理图像。CT纹理分析主要参数包括熵值、偏度、峰态、平均像素值和像素分布的标准差。甲状腺良恶性结节间纹理参数比较采用独立样本t检验或Mann-Whitney U检验,并对有统计学意义的纹理参数进行受试者操作特征(ROC)曲线分析,确定诊断阈值。结果甲状腺恶性结节的熵值、偏度、峰态、像素值和标准差分别为6.65±0.92、0.63±1.37、0.69±1.23、84.08±23.36和18.14±3.31;良性结节分别为5.96±0.54、0.59±1.42、0.51±1.17、72.00±24.52和20.05±6.10。熵值在甲状腺良恶性结节间差异有统计学意义(P0.05),偏度、峰态、像素值和标准差在甲状腺良恶性结节间差异均无统计学意义(均P0.05)。ROC曲线分析显示,以熵值6.09为鉴别甲状腺结节良恶性的阈值,其ROC曲线下面积、敏感度和特异度分别为0.733、71.3%和70.0%。结论 CT纹理参数对鉴别甲状腺结节的良恶性有一定帮助。     

Whole-lesion histogram analysis metrics of the apparent diffusion coefficient as a marker of breast lesions characterization at 1.5 T

IntroductionTo retrospectively assess the role of whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the characterization of breast tumors by comparing different histogram metrics.Methods49 patients with 53 breast lesions underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ADC histogram parameters, including the mean, mode, 10th/50th/90th percentile, skewness, kurtosis, and entropy ADCs, were derived for the whole-lesion volume in each patient. Mann–Whitney U-test, area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used for statistical analysis.ResultsThe mean, mode and 10th/50th/90th percentile ADC values were significantly lower in malignant lesions compared with benign ones (all P < 0.0001), while skewness was significantly higher in malignant lesions P = 0.02. However, no significant difference was found between entropy and kurtosis values in malignant lesions compared with benign ones (P = 0.06 and P = 1.00, respectively). Univariate logistic regression showed that 10th and 50th percentile ADC yielded the highest AUC (0.985; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.902, 1.000 and 0.982; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.896, 1.000 respectively), whereas kurtosis value yielded the lowest AUC (0.500; 95% CI: 0.355, 0.645), indicating that 10th and 50th percentile ADC values may be more accurate for lesion discrimination.ConclusionWhole-lesion ADC histogram analysis could be a helpful index in the characterization and differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions with the 10th and 50th percentile ADC be the most accurate discriminators.     

Evaluation of quantitative CT indexes in idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis using a low-dose technique

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare histogram features (mean lung attenuation, skewness, kurtosis) of low-dose and standard-dose CT in a group of patients affected by idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis. METHODS: We analyzed 16 patients affected by idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis. Spiral whole lung thin-section CT acquisition at standard dose (100 mAs) and three additional low-dose (50 mAs) CT images were obtained. After obtained frequency histograms, mean lung attenuation (MLA), skewness and kurtosis and three range of density (-700/-200 HU; -700/-400 HU; -500/-200 HU) of the standard-and low-dose thin-section CT scans were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: The parameters obtained with low-dose and standard-dose spiral CT were correlated in a highly significant manner and were equivalent (p<0.01). The greatest correlation was found between standard-and low-dose kurtosis and standard and low-dose -700/-400 HU subrange of density (r=0.92; p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results prove that a quantitative CT objective evaluation in lung fibrosis can be successfully obtained with low-dose spiral CT, with reduced mA.