Abstract #1345

Ishii M, Emami K, Friscia M, Shrager J, Rizi R, Kadlecek S, Vahdat V, Brainard B, Yu J, MacDuffie Woodburn J, Zhu J

Emphysema is an obstructive lung disorder characterized by the progressive destruction of the lung parenchyma, leading to a loss of surface area for gas exchange, reduction in lung elastic recoil, and irreversible airflow obstruction. Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), which involves the surgical resection of the lung to improve the mechanics of respiration and thus gas exchange, has recently become recognized as an effective treatment for emphysema. In this work, we study the improvements in lung compliance, fractional ventilation, and lung architecture, measured by hyperpolarized (HP) 3He MRI, brought about by LVRS. Preliminary data suggests that LVRS improves regional compliance and fractional ventilation when regions of the lung with severely aberrant compliance are resected suggesting that HP 3He MRI measures of lung function may play an important role in patient selection of LRVS candidates.