Relative preservation of peripheral lung function in smoking-related pulmonary emphysema: assessment with 99mTc-MAA perfusion and dynamic 133Xe SPET

In this study the cross-sectional functional differences between the central and peripheral lung in smokers with pulmonary emphysema were evaluated by lung perfusion and dynamic xenon-133 single-photon emission tomography (SPET). The subjects were 81 patients with a long-term smoking history and relatively advanced emphysema, 17 non-smoker patients with non-obstructive lung diseases and six healthy non-smokers. Regional lung functional difference between the peripheral and central lung was assessed in the upper, middle and lower lung zones by technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin SPET and dynamic ¹³³Xe SPET. The distribution of emphysematous changes was assessed by density-mask computed tomography (CT) images which depicted abnormally low attenuation areas (LAAs) of less than –960 Hounsfield units. Two hundred and eighty-eight (59.2%) lung zones of 63 (77.7%) patients with pulmonary emphysema showed relative preservation of lung function in the peripheral lung, with a curvilinear band of normal perfusion (a stripe sign) and a significantly faster ¹³³Xe half-clearance time (T _1/2) than in central lung (P<0.0001). Of these lung zones, 256 (88.8%) showed central-dominant LAA distributions on density-mask CT images, but the remaining 32 zones did not show any regional preference in LAA distribution. Conversely, 117 (24.0%) lung zones of 19 (23.4%) patients showed periphery-dominant perfusion defects and LAA distributions, with significantly prolonged T _1/2 in the peripheral lung area (P<0.0001). The remaining 81 lung zones of the patients with pulmonary emphysema and all the lung zones of the healthy subjects and patients with non-obstructive lung diseases did not show a stripe sign, and no differences were observed in T _1/2 values and LAA distributions between the central and peripheral lung. Relative preservation of peripheral lung function seems to be a characteristic feature in smoking-related pulmonary emphysema, and may indicate a lower susceptibility of peripheral parenchyma to the development of this disease. Received 8 January and in revised form 13 March 2000