The lung to thorax transverse area ratio has a linear correlation with the observed to expected lung area to head circumference ratio in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernias

Background/Purpose

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the lung to thorax transverse area ratio (L/T ratio) and the observed to expected lung area to head circumference ratio (O/E LHR), based on the results of a nationwide Japanese survey conducted in 2011, and to evaluate the compatibility of these prognostic predictors of fetal CDH.

Methods

Two hundred and forty-two prenatally diagnosed isolated CDH patients born between 2006 and 2010 were included in the present analysis. A regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between the L/T ratio and the O/E LHR based on 191 simultaneous measurements of these parameters in 120 patients.

Results

The linear regression equation between the L/T ratio and the O/E LHR was: L/T ratio = 0.0233 + (0.00222 × O/E LHR), (R = 0.847, p < 0.0001). According to this equation, 25% of the O/E LHR, the cut-off value used in the fetal intervention for CDH, was equivalent to an L/T ratio of 0.08, a commonly accepted cut-off value for identifying the most severe cases of fetal CDH.

Conclusions

As there is a positive correlation between the L/T ratio and the O/E LHR, these two parameters proved to be used interchangeably according to the linear regression equation.