Clinical and Genetic Associations of Objectively Identified Interstitial Changes in Smokers

Background

Smoking related lung injury may manifest on computed tomography (CT) as both emphysema and interstitial changes. We have developed an automated method to quantify interstitial changes and hypothesized that this measurement would be associated with lung function, quality of life, mortality, and a MUC5B polymorphism.

Methods

Using CT scans from the COPDGene study, lung parenchyma was objectively labeled as a tissue subtype and the percentage of the lung occupied by interstitial subtypes was calculated.

Findings

8345 participants had clinical and CT data available. A 5% absolute increase in interstitial changes was associated with an absolute increase in percent predicted forced vital capacity of 2.47% (pConclusions

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