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Geudens V, Van Slambrouck J, Aerts G, Willems L, Goos T, Kaes J, Zajacova A, Gyselinck I, Aelbrecht C, Vermaut A, Beeckmans H, Vermant M, De Fays C, Sacreas A, Aversa L, Orlitova M, Vanstapel A, Josipovic I, Boone MN, McDonough JE, Weynand B, Pilette C, Janssens W, Dupont L, Wuyts WA, Verleden GM, Van Raemdonck DE, Vos R, Gayan-Ramirez G, Ceulemans LJ, Vanaudenaerde BM. COVID-19 progression in hospitalized patients using follow-up in vivo CT and ex vivo microCT. J Thorac Dis 2023; 15:3646-3661. [PMID: 37559650 PMCID: PMC10407474 DOI: 10.21037/jtd-22-1488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) which can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and evolve to pulmonary fibrosis. Computed tomography (CT) is used to study disease progression and describe radiological patterns in COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to assess disease progression regarding lung volume and density over time on follow-up in vivo chest CT and give a unique look at parenchymal and morphological airway changes in "end-stage" COVID-19 lungs using ex vivo microCT. METHODS Volumes and densities of the lung/lobes of three COVID-19 patients were assessed using follow-up in vivo CT and ex vivo whole lung microCT scans. Airways were quantified by airway segmentations on whole lung microCT and small-partition microCT. As controls, three discarded healthy donor lungs were used. Histology was performed in differently affected regions in the COVID-19 lungs. RESULTS In vivo, COVID-19 lung volumes decreased while density increased over time, mainly in lower lobes as previously shown. Ex vivo COVID-19 lung volumes decreased by 60% and all lobes were smaller compared to controls. Airways were more visible on ex vivo microCT in COVID-19, probably due to fibrosis and increased airway diameter. In addition, small-partition microCT showed more deformation of (small) airway morphology and fibrotic organization in severely affected regions with heterogeneous distributions within the same lung which was confirmed by histology. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19-ARDS and subsequent pulmonary fibrosis alters lung architecture and airway morphology which is described using in vivo CT, ex vivo microCT, and histology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Geudens
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Van Slambrouck
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Gitte Aerts
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lynn Willems
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tinne Goos
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Janne Kaes
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Andrea Zajacova
- Prague Lung Transplant Program, Department of Pneumology, Motol University Hospital, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Iwein Gyselinck
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Celine Aelbrecht
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Astrid Vermaut
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hanne Beeckmans
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Marie Vermant
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Charlotte De Fays
- Department of Pneumology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Annelore Sacreas
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lucia Aversa
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michaela Orlitova
- Division of Anesthesiology and Algology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Arno Vanstapel
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ivan Josipovic
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Centre for X-Ray Tomography (UGCT), Radiation Physics, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Matthieu N. Boone
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Centre for X-Ray Tomography (UGCT), Radiation Physics, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - John E. McDonough
- Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Birgit Weynand
- Department of Imaging & Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Charles Pilette
- Department of Pneumology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Wim Janssens
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lieven Dupont
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Wim A. Wuyts
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Geert M. Verleden
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dirk E. Van Raemdonck
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Robin Vos
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ghislaine Gayan-Ramirez
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Laurens J. Ceulemans
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart M. Vanaudenaerde
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, BREATHE, Department of Chrometa, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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