UI study: CT scans might identify risk for emphysema

Using CT scans to measure blood flow in smokers' lungs may offer a way to identify smokers most at risk of emphysema, according to a University of Iowa study.

The discovery may also improve understanding of the underlying causes of emphysema; help distinguish it from other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and help test the effectiveness of emphysema treatment.

Findings appear in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study found that smokers who have very subtle signs of emphysema, but still have normal lung function, have very different blood flow patterns in their lungs compared to non-smokers and smokers without signs of emphysema.

That difference could be used to identify smokers at increased risk of emphysema, allowing for early treatment before the disease damages and areas of the lungs.

As many as 24 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, a group of serious lung diseases that includes emphysema. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death nationwide.

Because COPD is a group of different diseases, identifying more effective treatments may hinge on distinguishing between the diseases and targeting them separately.

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Lead author Eric Hoffman, UI professor of radiology, internal medicine and biomedical engineering and team member Dr. Geoffrey McLennan, UI professor of internal medicine, radiology and biomedical engineering, are founders and shareholders of VIDA Diagnostics, a company commercializing lung-imaging software derived from laboratory research.