Chengbo Wang1, Talissa A. Altes1,
John P. Mugler, III1,2, Eduard E. de Lange1, Robert M.
Strieter3, Yun M. Shim3,4
1Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA, United States; 2Biomedical Engineering, University of
Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; 3Medicine,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; 4Pulmonary
and Critical Care, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
Short-time-scale
(STS) and long-time-scale (LTS) helium-3 ADC values were measured in the
lungs of smokers and found to be moderately correlated with %predFEV1, but
poorly correlated with exercise stress testing, possibly because non-respiratory
factors may significantly affect exercise capacity. STS helium-3 ADC values
did not correlate with %DLCO while LTS ADC values were moderately correlated
with %DLCO. These results support an association between lung microstructural
alterations caused by cigarette smoking and functional changes in FEV1 and
%DLCO, and suggest that LTS ADC is more sensitive than STS ADC in detecting
early pulmonary injury.