PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - M Kohlhaufl AU - P Brand AU - T Selzer AU - G Scheuch AU - T Meyer AU - N Weber AU - H Schulz AU - K Haussinger AU - J Heyder TI - Diagnosis of emphysema in patients with chronic bronchitis: a new approach AID - 10.1183/09031936.98.12040793 DP - 1998 Oct 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 793--798 VI - 12 IP - 4 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/12/4/793.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/12/4/793.full SO - Eur Respir J1998 Oct 01; 12 AB - Aerosol-derived airway morphometry (ADAM) and aerosol bolus dispersion (D) are altered in patients or animal models with lung emphysema. This study was performed to examine the sensitivity and specificity of ADAM and D in the detection of emphysema in vivo compared with conventional lung function parameters. The study comprised patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis (COB) without emphysema (group COB; n=19, age 56+/-8 yrs, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/vital capacity (VC) 66+/-12% predicted) and patients with chronic bronchitis with high-resolution computed tomography-confirmed emphysema (group COB-E; n=20), age 65+/-7 yrs, FEV1/VC 44+/-16% pred). Using monodisperse aerosol particles ADAM assessed the calibres of peripheral airspaces, while D measured convective gas mixing. Among all lung function parameters, ADAM and D showed the highest sensitivity and specificity for separating patients with COB from those with COB-E (area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (pROC) 0.99 and 1.0, respectively). In patients with COB aerosol parameters did not differ from those found in the control group, whereas patients with COB-E exhibited a two-fold increase in peripheral airspace dimensions compared with subjects with COB (0.86+/-0.07 versus 0.37+/-0.02 mm, p=0.0001) and an increase in D by >50% (541+/-74 versus 345+/-42 cm3, p=0.0001). In conclusion, aerosol-derived airway morphometry and aerosol bolus dispersion are powerful tools in the differential diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.