Preoperative graft volume assessment with 3D-CT volumetry in living-donor lobar lung transplantations

To determine the effectiveness of living-donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT), it is necessary to predict the recipient's postoperative lung function. Traditionally, Date's formula, also called the seg-mental ratio, has used the number of lung segments to estimate the forced vital capacity (FVC) of grafts in LDLLT. To provide a more precise estimate of graft FVC, we calculated the volumes of the lower lobe and total lung using three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) and the volume ratio between them. We calculated the volume ratio in 52 donors and tested the difference between the seg-mental volume ratios with a one-tailed f-test. We also calculated the predicted graft FVC in 21 LDLLTs using the segmental ratio pFVC(c) and the volume ratio pFVC(v), and then found the Pearson's correlation coefficients for both pFVC(c) and pFVC(v) with the recipients' actual FVC (rFVC) measured spirometrically 6 months after surgery. Significant differences were found between the segmental ratio and the average volume ratio for both sides (right, p - 0.03; left, p - 0.0003). Both pFVC(c) and pFVC(v) correlated significantly with rFVC at 6 months after surgery (p = 0.007 and 0.006). Both the conventional and the volumetric methods provided FVC predictions that correlated significantly with measured postoperative FVC.