DOI:10.2214/AJR.05.0895
AJR 2006; 187:1019-1023
© American Roentgen Ray Society
Detection of Air Trapping on Inspiratory and Expiratory Phase Images Obtained by 0.3-Second Cine CT in the Lungs of Free-Breathing Young Children
Hyun Woo Goo1 and
Hye Jin Kim1
1 Both authors: Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of
Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1 Poongnap-2 dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736,
South Korea.
Received May 25, 2005;
accepted after revision August 17, 2005.
Address correspondence to H. W. Goo
(hwgoo{at}amc.seoul.kr).
Abstract
OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether
0.3-second cine CT can be used to detect air trapping in the lungs of young
children.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS. In 30 children (mean age, 25 months),
0.3-second cine CT was performed at six levels during 3 seconds of quiet
breathing. The study population was divided into an air trapping group
(n = 24) and a no-air trapping group (n = 6). Lung density
was measured at an abnormal area (with or without air trapping) and an
adjacent normal area on inspiratory and expiratory phase images. Lung density
differences between inspiration and expiration were calculated and compared in
abnormal areas (with or without air trapping) and in normal areas. Their
percentages were calculated and compared between the two groups. In addition,
lung density differences between abnormal and adjacent normal areas were
calculated and compared between the two groups.
RESULTS. Lung density differences between inspiration and expiration
were smaller in areas with air trapping (mean ± SD, -19 ± 34 H)
than in abnormal areas without air trapping (138 ± 36 H) (p
< 0.001) or in normal areas (111 ± 49 H) (p < 0.001).
Their percentages were smaller in the group with air trapping (-27% ±
54%) than in the group with no air trapping (120% ± 87%) (p
< 0.001). In the group with air trapping, lung density differences were
larger at the expiratory phase (260 ± 77 H) than at the inspiratory
phase (129 ± 69 H) (p < 0.001), but did not change through
the respiratory cycle in the group with no air trapping (p >
0.05).
CONCLUSION. Air trapping can be accurately detected in the lungs of
free-breathing young children using 0.3-second cine CT.
Keywords: air trapping cine CT CT technique lung pediatric patients
Introduction
Young children have greater susceptibility to airway narrowing leading to
air trapping or atelectasis than older children and adults. This is attributed
to young children having higher airway resistance, weaker airway skeletons,
and more abundant bronchial mucous glands than older patients. When mosaic
lung attenuation is seen on inspiratory CT, expiratory CT can be used to
differentiate air trapping from ground-glass opacity or vascular obstruction
[1,
2]. However, expiratory CT is
difficult to perform on young children who cannot hold their breath.
Nevertheless, there have been attempts to obtain expiratory CT images from
young children using cine CT
[3-7],
lateral decubitus CT
[8-10],
and controlled-ventilation CT
[11,
12]. Cine CT studies have been
performed using electron beam CT
[3-6]
and helical CT with 1.0-second gantry rotation time
[7], but no studies have yet
been conducted using helical CT with a faster gantry rotation time, to our
knowledge. In this study, we evaluated whether 0.3-second cine CT can be used
for assessing air trapping in the lungs of free-breathing young children.
Subjects and Methods
Thirty young children (15 boys and 15 girls; mean age, 25 months; age
range, 1 month-6 years) who were suspected of having lung areas with air
trapping and who underwent cine CT studies were included in this study. This
study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed parental
consent was received before each CT examination.
Air trapping was considered to be present when the following imaging
findings were seen on cine CT images. First, a hyperlucent area in the lung
should be detected on CT images. Second, the pulmonary vessels in the
hyperlucent area should be smaller than those in an area of normal lung.
Third, the hyperlucent area should become less bright or even darker than an
area of normal lung on expiratory phase CT images. Fourth, a change in the
hyperlucent area size should be smaller than that in a normal lung area of the
same size on cine CT images or the hyperlucent area should become larger on
expiratory phase CT images than on inspiratory phase CT images.
Two radiologists visually assessed cine CT images by consensus and
identified the presence of air trapping in 24 of the 30 children. Their
diagnoses are shown in Table 1.
On the other hand, six patients belonged to a no-air trapping group and their
diagnoses are described in Table
2. Diffuse lung abnormalities were present in six patients. Among
them, two patients showed diffuse hyperlucency and four patients showed
diffuse opacity. We reviewed available 3D helical CT images obtained on the
same day as cine CT or on another day close to the date of the cine CT
examination to look for airway stenoses responsible for air trapping detected
on cine CT.
A CT system (LightSpeed QX/i, GE Healthcare) with 0.5-second gantry
rotation time and 4-slice capability was used to obtain 0.3-second cine CT
studies. Each 1.25-mm slice was scanned for 3 seconds with 100 kVp and 50-90
mA at a fixed level while the patient was breathing quietly in the supine
position. Cine CT was usually performed without sedating the patient because
an IV contrast agent was not used and the scanning time of the study was
short. Serial segment images were reconstructed retrospectively from CT data
obtained with a 225° rotation (0.3 seconds) and an intersegmentation
interval of 0.3 seconds. Sixty cine CT images per patient (six slice levels,
10 images at each level) were reconstructed using a standard algorithm. The
high-spatial-frequency bone algorithm was not available for this segment
reconstruction. Two radiologists in consensus selected inspiratory and
expiratory phase images on the basis of lung volume, lung density, and chest
wall motion by paging through the cine CT images.
Lung density was measured by placing a rectangular region of interest (6-29
mm2 in area) over an area with abnormal density and an adjacent
normal area (if present) on a pair of inspiratory and expiratory phase CT
images, with careful attention not to include large pulmonary vessels (Figs.
1A and
1B). For the measurement of
normal lung density, an area was chosen that did not show compressive
atelectasis in the adjacent ipsilateral lung. Normal lung density could not be
measured in the six patients with diffuse abnormalities. These patients were
included in the analysis of abnormal lung density but were excluded in the
analysis in which normal lung density was necessary.

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Fig. 1A 17-month-old girl with air trapping in right middle lobe and
mediastinal embryonal sarcoma that had recurred. For lung densitometry,
rectangular regions of interest are placed at peripheral portions of right
middle lobe (area with air trapping, white rectangle) and right lower
lobe (normal area, black rectangle). Pair of inspiratory (A)
and expiratory (B) phase CT images show air trapping in right middle
lobe might be due to enlarged metastatic lymph node.
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Fig. 1B 17-month-old girl with air trapping in right middle lobe and
mediastinal embryonal sarcoma that had recurred. For lung densitometry,
rectangular regions of interest are placed at peripheral portions of right
middle lobe (area with air trapping, white rectangle) and right lower
lobe (normal area, black rectangle). Pair of inspiratory (A)
and expiratory (B) phase CT images show air trapping in right middle
lobe might be due to enlarged metastatic lymph node.
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Lung density differences between inspiration and expiration were calculated
for all patients and compared in areas with air trapping, in abnormal areas
without air trapping, and in normal areas. The density difference percentage
([density differenceabnormal/density differencenormal]
x 100) between inspiration and expiration was calculated and compared
between the group with air trapping (n = 22) and the group with no
air trapping (n = 2) to compensate for individual tidal volume
variation during quiet breathing that could potentially affect results of lung
density measurements.
In addition, lung density differences between abnormal areas and adjacent
normal areas were calculated at the inspiratory and expiratory phases and were
compared between the two groups. Lastly, we evaluated whether mosaic lung
attenuation due to air trapping was visible on inspiratory phase images in the
22 patients of the air trapping group. For all statistical comparisons,
unpaired and paired Student's t tests were used and a p
value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant
difference.

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Fig. 2 Bar graph shows lung density differences between inspiration
and expiration among three area categories: lung with air trapping, abnormal
lung without air trapping, and normal lung. Lung density differences were
significantly smaller in areas with air trapping (mean ± SD, -19
± 34 H) than in abnormal areas without air trapping (138 ± 36 H)
(star, p < 0.001) and in normal areas (111 ± 49 H)
(star, p < 0.001).
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Fig. 3A 21-month-old girl with diffuse air trapping in both lungs who
underwent Rastelli operation due to pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal
defect. Inspiratory (A) and expiratory (B) phase CT images
reveal almost no changes in lung density and volume through respiratory cycle.
Measured lung densities at inspiration and expiration were 855 and 854 H,
respectively.
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Fig. 3B 21-month-old girl with diffuse air trapping in both lungs who
underwent Rastelli operation due to pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal
defect. Inspiratory (A) and expiratory (B) phase CT images
reveal almost no changes in lung density and volume through respiratory cycle.
Measured lung densities at inspiration and expiration were 855 and 854 H,
respectively.
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Fig. 3C 21-month-old girl with diffuse air trapping in both lungs who
underwent Rastelli operation due to pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal
defect. Three-dimensional CT image of lungs and airways (threshold, -150 H)
shows severe irregular narrowing of central airways as cause of diffuse air
trapping. Cause of airway stenoses was thought to be vascular compression, and
stenoses were improved after aortopexy.
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Results
In all patients, we could successfully select inspiratory and expiratory
phase images from cine CT images and successfully measured lung densities on
the CT images. In 11 of the 24 patients with air trapping, we found central
airway stenoses responsible for air trapping on 3D helical CT images, which
was supplementary evidence for the presence of air trapping visually detected
on cine CT. We could not delineate peripheral airway stenoses because of the
limited spatial resolution of the CT images.
For all patients, lung density differences between the inspiratory and
expiratory phases were significantly smaller in areas with air trapping (mean
± SD, -19 ± 34 H) than in abnormal areas without air trapping
(138 ± 36 H) (p < 0.001) or normal areas (111 ± 49
H) (p < 0.001) (Fig.
2). Among six patients with diffuse abnormalities, two patients
with diffuse air trapping (both from the air trapping group) could be
objectively distinguished from four patients with diffuse increased opacity
(all from the no-air trapping group) on the basis of CT densitometry (Figs.
3A,
3B, and
3C). Density difference
percentages were significantly smaller in the air trapping group (-27%
± 54%) than in the no-air trapping group (120% ± 87%)
(p < 0.001) (Fig.
4).

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Fig. 4 Bar graph shows lung density difference percentages between
air trapping and no-air trapping groups. Density difference percentages were
significantly smaller in air trapping group (mean ± SD, -27% ±
54%) than in no-air trapping group (120% ± 87%) (star,
p < 0.001).
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In the air trapping group, lung density differences between abnormal and
normal areas were significantly larger at the expiratory phase (260 ±
77 H) than the inspiratory phase (129 ± 69 H) (p < 0.001),
but did not change significantly through the respiratory cycle in the no-air
trapping group (213 ± 186 H and 207 ± 105 H, respectively)
(p > 0.05) (Fig.
5). Of the 22 patients with focal air trapping detected on
expiratory phase images, mosaic lung attenuation due to air trapping was
barely visible in six patients (27%) on inspiratory phase images (Fig.
6A and
6B).

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Fig. 5 Bar graph shows lung density differences between abnormal and
normal areas in air trapping and no-air trapping groups. Lung density
differences were significantly larger at expiration (gray bars) (mean
± SD, 260 ± 77 H) than at inspiration (black bars) (129
± 69 H) in air trapping group (star, p < 0.001),
whereas there was no significant difference in no-air trapping group (207
± 105 H at inspiration, 213 ± 186 H at expiration) (p
> 0.05).
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Fig. 6A 21-month-old boy with bronchial asthma. Inspiratory phase CT
image reveals subsegmental atelectasis (arrow) in apicoposterior
segment of left upper lobe and bronchial wall thickening in right upper lobe.
Areas with air trapping are barely visible, and lung parenchyma seems to be
almost homogeneous in density.
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Fig. 6B 21-month-old boy with bronchial asthma. In contrast to
inspiratory phase CT image (A), expiratory phase CT image unveils
mosaic lung attenuation (arrowheads) due to air trapping in both
upper lobes. Normal concavity (arrow) is noticeable at posterior
membranous portion of trachea at expiration.
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Discussion
Expiratory CT has been reported to be useful in identifying mosaic lung
attenuation due to air trapping, which indicates the presence of large or
small airways disease [1,
2]. Air trapping is more
prevalent in young children than older children and adults, and expiratory CT
is therefore of significant clinical importance for this group. However,
breath-hold expiratory CT examinations cannot be performed on young children
who cannot hold their breath. To overcome this difficulty, cine CT using
electron beam CT
[3-6]
or helical CT [7], lateral
decubitus CT
[8-10],
and controlled-ventilation CT
[11,
12] have been performed to
obtain expiratory CT images in young children. To our knowledge, cine CT with
a 0.3-second temporal resolution has not yet been evaluated for detecting air
trapping in young children.
In this study, air trapping was accurately detected in 24 free-breathing
young children using cine CT. In addition to focal air trapping, diffuse air
trapping was detectable in two patients with objective measurements of lung
density on cine CT, thereby confirming the findings of other authors that
expiratory CT can be helpful in the diagnosis of diffuse lung disease
[2]. In addition to lung
density assessments, changes in lung volume, the chest wall, and
cardiomediastinal structures through the respiratory cycle may be other
helpful clues in identifying focal or diffuse air trapping. These changes tend
to be restricted in cases of large areas of air trapping and are prone to
being exaggerated in adjacent areas of normal lung.
In six (27%) of 22 patients with mosaic lung attenuation, we detected air
trapping on only the expiratory phase CT images, exemplifying the additional
usefulness of expiratory CT. Other researchers have also detected air trapping
using expiratory CT in patients who had normal findings on inspiratory CT
[13]. Those authors found that
the patients showed pulmonary function test results that were intermediate
values between the results of patients with normal findings on inspiratory and
expiratory CT scans and those of patients with air trapping and abnormal
findings on inspiratory CT, suggesting a mild degree of air trapping
[13].
Cine CT can be performed using electron beam or helical CT. Although
temporal resolution of electron beam CT is higher than that of helical CT,
helical CT with subsecond gantry rotation time, which was used in our study,
is more readily available. In cine CT, temporal resolution is reduced further
to approximately half of the gantry rotation time by the use of partial
reconstruction. Higher temporal resolution may be beneficial in obtaining more
accurate lung density measurements by reducing respiratory and cardiac motion
artifacts. Based on our previous experiences
[9], lateral decubitus CT may
be somewhat limited owing to the necessity of patient position changes during
the procedure. We found that this occasionally caused sedation failure and
remarkable respiratory misregistration between the two lateral decubitus CT
images at a defined slice position, making lung densitometry difficult.
Another alternative way to perform cine CT that is safe and provides excellent
image quality is controlled-ventilation CT
[11,
12], in which the CT scan is
obtained during respiratory pauses induced by synchronous controlled positive
airway pressure delivered with the Sellick maneuver. However, this method is
complex and requires two experienced operators and a special device for
controlled ventilation. Cine CT, as used in our study, avoids these problems
because it can be performed with the patient in the supine position and
requires no special devices, maneuvers, or patient sedation.
Another important issue in imaging pediatric patients with CT is radiation
dose. The CT dose index volume (CTDIvolume) of cine CT was 6.6-11.8
mGy at one level in our study. Therefore, the calculated dose-length product
at all six levels was approximately 5.0-8.9 mGy x cm, and the estimated
effective dose [14] was
0.09-0.15 mSv. Hence, the radiation dose of our cine CT protocol was
relatively low compared with that of other chest CT methods. We believe that
acquiring cine CT images at six levels may be sufficient for identifying
significant air trapping. Detection of a lobular or subsegmental area of air
trapping may not be necessary because it can be seen in healthy subjects and
may be clinically insignificant
[15]. To further reduce
radiation dose, we propose reducing the number of levels to encompass abnormal
lung areas only. Despite the relatively low radiation dose of cine CT, we
believe that cine CT should be performed for the appropriate indications to
maximize clinical benefits from the study.
One of several limitations of this study is a lack of standard reference
for the diagnosis of air trapping. However, the pulmonary function test is
difficult to perform in young children, and the test results may be misleading
in uncooperative patients. Moreover, detection of air trapping based on CT
densitometry has already been assessed in many cine CT studies
[3-7].
In the expiratory phase, the proportion of air having very low CT density in a
lung volume is relatively high in areas of air trapping compared with normal
lung areas. The principle of performing CT densitometry for detecting air
trapping has been used in previous cine CT studies
[3-7],
and it also was proved to be accurate and objective in this study. Regarding
comparison between the two groups in this study, the small number of children
in the no-air trapping group is another limitation of our study. However, it
would not be ethical to perform cine CT in children who were not suspected of
having air trapping in their lungs. Like other pathologic conditions, air
trapping may be a spectrum of abnormality. Therefore, subtle or mild air
trapping may be missed and cannot be differentiated from a normal lung area by
means of qualitative and quantitative evaluations of lung density changes on
cine CT. This limitation may cut down the sensitivity of cine CT in detecting
air trapping, but mild air trapping missed on cine CT may be less significant
clinically than moderate or severe air trapping.
Density differences of a normal lung between inspiration and expiration
have been reported to be in the range of 100-150 H
[3,
16]. Density differences in
normal lung areas (mean, 111 H) and in abnormal areas without air trapping
(138 H) of this study fell within that range. In a previous study using
lateral decubitus CT [9], a
mean density difference between normal lung areas and areas of air trapping in
dependent lungs (208 H), equivalent to expiratory phase imaging, and that in
nondependent lungs (121 H), equivalent to inspiratory phase imaging, were also
similar to results from this study (260 and 129 H, respectively).
Of the 24 patients with air trapping in our study, 46% of the cases (11/24)
were caused by airway stenoses that were apparent on 3D CT images of the
airways. Air trapping in the remaining 13 patients might have been due to
small airways disease, and corresponding airway abnormalities might not,
therefore, be directly identified on CT images. We think that the calculation
of density difference percentages is not necessary for detecting air trapping
on cine CT because the results of density difference percentages showed the
same statistical significance as those of density differences.
In conclusion, air trapping can be accurately detected in the lungs of
free-breathing young children using 0.3-second cine CT regardless of whether
it is focal or diffuse in extent. Detection is possible because an area with
air trapping shows a smaller increase or a paradoxical decrease in lung
density at the expiratory phase.
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