Evaluation of Enhancement Pattern of Malignant Lung Lesion During Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography - Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: At present, lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the world. Most of the patients are asymptomatic at the early stages of the disease and manifest at the advanced stage. It is broadly classified into two types based on histopathology, Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the predominant type, and Small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Â Our study aimed to evaluate the enhancement pattern of malignant lung lesion during contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 34 patients with lung cancer after clearance from the Institutional Ethical Committee. Contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) Thorax was performed by 16 slice Multi-Detector computed tomography (MDCT )machine, and the tumor's pre and post-contrast Hounsfield Unit (HU) value was measured in the area of highest density. Results: Out of the 34 patients, Squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were seen in 15 patients in each group, whereas small cell carcinoma was found in 4 patients. Pre and post-contrast mean HU value was 39.5 (SD= 2.95) HU and 72.13 (SD= 4.21) HU for adenocarcinoma, 34.6 (SD=2.61) HU and 63.8(SD=2.88) HU for squamous cell carcinoma and 31.00 (SD=1.41) HU and 55.7 (SD=2.75) HU for small cell carcinoma. The significant of density difference was measured using paired t-test (p20HU) during the CECT study. Evaluation of enhancement pattern of lung mass by measuring pre and post-contrast HU value will help the radiologist to predict the histopathological type of lung cancer.

Keywords

• computed tomography
• hounsfield unit
• non-small cell lung carcinoma
• small cell lung carcinoma
• solitary pulmonary nodule