Co-Relation of Chest X-Ray and HRCT in Patients with Interestitial Lung Diseases

Background: Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]refer to a large group of diseases which inflame or scar the lung interstitium. HRCT provides a global anatomic assessment of the lung, this imaging technique improves significantly the sensitivity and specificity of clinical and histopathological diagnosis. The radiographic signs are nonspecific so conclusions on the etiology of the findings are normally based on associated and indirect and indirect signs. Although some diseases can have common findings, making differentiation difficult, others have specific characteristics that frequently indicate diagnosis. [8, 9, 10, 11] Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study comprising of100 patients with a provisional clinical diagnosis of interstitial lung disease, as referred to the Department of Radio-diagnosis at GCS Medical College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat from Jan 2020 till date. PA views and lateral views X-rays were taken in full inspiration. In HRCT, 1to 1.5 mm collimation sections were obtained. Five to eight slices with thin collimation were obtained at different anatomic levels of the lung.2 cm, or 3 cm intersection gap was used. Scanning was performed using a field of view large enough to encompass both lungs (35-40cm). Results: Out of the 100 cases with suspected ILD, majority of them belonged to the age group of forty to seventy years ofage. Out of the 25 cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 5 were males and 25 were females. The remaining (non-IPF) 75 cases were of 30 males and 45females. Conclusion: HRCT is the most sensitive modality in diagnosing ILD. It offers the ability to distinguish responders and non responders to treatment in ILD. Overall, HRCT is the most sensitive parameter to detect the early interstitial changes in non-IPF patients. HRCT can show evidence of interstitial lung changes even when clinical and pulmonary function tests parameters are normal. HRCT is superior to plain chest radiograph in the evaluation of early interstitial lungchanges.