Ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy in children with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans: a pilot study.

Abstract

PurposeChildhood post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is an infrequent lung disease leading to narrowing and/or complete obliteration of small airways. Ventilation and perfusion (V/Q) scan can provide both regional and global pulmonary information. However, only few retrospective researches investigating post-infectious BO involved V/Q scan, the clinical value of this method is unknown. This preliminary prospective study was aimed to evaluate the correlation of V/Q scan with disease severity, pulmonary function test results, and prognosis in children with post-infectious BO.MethodsTwenty-five post-infectious BO children (18 boys and 7 girls; mean age, 41 months) underwent V/Q scan and pulmonary function tests. Patients were followed after their inclusion. Ventilation index and perfusion index obtained from V/Q scan were used to measure pulmonary abnormalities. Spearman's rank correlation test of ventilation index and perfusion index on disease severity, lung function tests indices, and follow-up results were performed.ResultsThe median follow-up period was 4.6 years (range, 2.2 to 5.0 years). Ventilation index and perfusion index were both correlated with disease severity (r = 0.72, pConclusionsFor children with post-infectious BO, the present study preliminarily indicated that the degree of ventilation and perfusion abnormalities evaluated by V/Q scan may be used to assess disease severity, and may be predictive of patient's outcome.