Post-Infectious Bronchiolitis Obliterans: Can CT Scan Findings at Early Age Anticipate Lung Function?

Background: The image findings of post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans (PIBO) have been described, however, we do not know if such findings can predict lung function (LF) deterioration with increasing patient age. Aim: To assess whether computed tomography (CT) abnormalities detected at an early stage of the disease can anticipate abnormal LF a decade later in children with PIBO. Methods: We compared CT scans of 21 children with PIBO, done within their first 3 years of life, and their actual LE To evaluate CT scans we used a modified Bhalla score and, for LF, FEV1 as percentage of predicted values. We calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) by comparing the proportion of patients with worst CT score and worst LF, with the proportion of those with best CT score and worst LE Results: PR was 1.17 (CI 1.02; 1.34, P = 0.02). Conclusions: The CT finding early in the life of children with PIBO, when assessed by the Bhalla, score seem to anticipate future LF status. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2010; 45:315-319. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.