ESTIMATION OF RISK OF SURGERY OF LUNG-CANCER BY MEANS OF QUANTITATIVE PERFUSION SCINTIGRAPHY

28 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma were studied to predict lung function after thoracic resectional surgery, i.e. the functional operability, employing preoperative vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and perfusion lung imaging. The perfusion scan was divided into 12 regions of interest which were semiquantitated to determine the relative distribution of perfusion as a fraction of the total perfusion. The planned reduction of lung parenchyma was expressed as percent of total perfusion, and the expected decrease in VC and FEV1, i.e. the predicted postoperative function of the lung, was calculated. The comparison of the predicted functional lung capacity with the re-estimated lung function (VC and FEF1) 6 months after surgery showed high correlation coefficients for both VC and FEV1. Semiquantitative perfusion scintigraphy of the lung helps to determine the extent of surgery possible in the individual therapy of lung cancer and is especially important in patients with a high operative risk.