• Ra Gyoung Yoon, Joon Beom Seo, Namkug Kim, Hyun Joo Lee, Sang Min Lee, Young Kyung Lee, Jae Woo Song, Jin Woo Song, and Dong Soon Kim.
• Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, 86 Asanbyeongwon-Gil, Songpa-Gu, Seoul 138-736, South Korea. yoonrg@hanmail.net
• Eur Radiol. 2013 Mar 1;23(3):692-701.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the usefulness of a texture-based automated quantification system (AQS) for evaluating the extent and interval change of regional disease patterns on initial and follow-up high-resolution computed tomographies (HRCTs) of fibrotic interstitial pneumonia (FIP).MethodsEighty-nine patients with clinically and/or biopsy confirmed usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) (n = 71) and non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) (n = 18) were included. An AQS to quantify five disease patterns (ground-glass opacity [GGO], reticular opacity [RO], honeycombing [HC], emphysema [EMPH], consolidation [CONS]) and normal lung was developed. The extent and interval changes of each disease pattern, FS (fibrosis score), TA (total abnormal lung fraction) of entire lung on initial and 1-year follow-up HRCTs were quantified. The agreement between the results of AQS and two readers was assessed. Results of AQS were correlated with forced vital capacity (FVC) and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLco).ResultsThe Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) study revealed acceptable agreement between visual assessment and AQS (r = 0.78, 0.66 for HC; 0.76, 0.61 for FS; 0.64, 0.68 for TA, initial and follow-up HRCTs, respectively). Linear regression analysis revealed the extent of HC, TA on initial CT, interval changes of FS contributed negatively to DLco, and interval changes of FS, TA contributed negatively to FVC.ConclusionsOur AQS is comparable with visual assessment for evaluating the disease extent and the interval changes of FIP on HRCT.

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