1. Department of Radiology, Characteristics Medical Center of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Tianjin 300162, China; 2. Department of Radiology, Taxkorgan County People’s Hospital, Kashi 845250, China
Abstract：Objective To investigate the changes of quantitative CT parameters of lung changes caused by high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and to provide quantitative imaging basis for the evaluation of the treatment effect of HAPE patients. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the imaging data of 20 patients with HAPE admitted to the Taxkorgan County People’s Hospital of Xinjiang autonomous region from December 2021 to December 2023. The initial and follow-up chest CT images were analyzed quantitatively. The quantitative CT indices included lesion volume of left lung (LVLL), lesion volume of right lung (LVRL), total lesion volume (TLV), and the percentage of lesion volume in total lung volume (TLV/TL%). The differences in quantitative CT indices before and after treatment in HAPE patients were compared. The correlation between pre-treatment CT indices and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and length of hospital stay were analyzed. Results A total of 40 chest CT scans were conducted in 20 patients with confirmed HAPE, and the average interval was (3.2±0.7) days. Before treatment, the LVRL was significantly higher than the LVLL in the HAPE patients [(1267±484)cm3vs. (888±544)cm3, P<0.05]. The TLV after treatment were significantly lower than that before treatment [(445±490)cm3vs. (2156±802)cm3, P<0.001]. The TLV/TL% after treatment were significantly lower than that before treatment (13%±13% vs. 49%±17%, P<0.001). The LVLL, TLV, and TLV/TL% before treatment were negatively correlated with SpO2 (r=-0.493, P<0.05; r=-0.567, P<0.01; r=-0.832, P<0.001). The TLV/TL% before treatment were positively correlated with hospitalization day (r=0.553, P<0.05). The SpO2 was negatively correlated with hospitalization day (r=-0.486,P<0.05). Conclusions The injury of right lung in HAPE patients is more serious than that of left lung. Quantitative CT parameter is an effective index to evaluate the severity of HAPE and the treatment effect.
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2024, Vol. 35 
