RATIONALE: The lung clearance index is a measure of ventilation distribution derived from the multiple-breath washout technique. It has been suggested as a surrogate for chest computed tomography to detect @entity358 in individuals with @entity1577 ( @entity1577 ); however, the associations between lung clearance index and early @entity358 are unclear. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the ability of the lung clearance index to reflect @entity358 on the basis of chest computed tomography across the entire pediatric age range. METHODS: Lung clearance index was assessed in 42 @entity1 (ages 0-2 yr), 39 preschool @entity1 (ages 3-6 yr), and 38 school-age @entity1 (7-16 yr) with @entity1577 before chest computed tomography and in 72 healthy control subjects. Scans were evaluated for @entity1577 -related @entity358 using the Perth-Rotterdam Annotated Grid Morphometric Analysis for @entity5409 @entity82 quantitative outcome measure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In @entity1 with @entity1577 , lung clearance index is insensitive to structural disease (k   =   -0.03 [95% confidence interval, -0.05 to 0.16]). In preschool @entity1 with @entity1577 , lung clearance index correlates with @entity66 extent. In school-age @entity1 , lung clearance index correlates with extent of @entity66 , @entity4595 , and air trapping. In preschool and school-age @entity1 , lung clearance index has a good positive predictive value (83-86%) but a poor negative predictive value (50-55%) to detect the presence of @entity4595 . CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that lung clearance index may be a useful surveillance tool to monitor @entity358 in preschool and school-age @entity1 with @entity1577 . However, lung clearance index cannot replace chest computed tomography to screen for @entity4595 in this population.

Lung Clearance Index and @entity358 on Computed Tomography in Early XXXX @entity82 .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children', 'infants'] @entity82 :: ('MESH:D005355', 'Disease') :: ['Fibrosis'] @entity5409 :: ('MESH:D052177', 'Disease') :: ['Cystic'] @entity66 :: ('MESH:D004194', 'Disease') :: ['total disease'] @entity358 :: ('MESH:D008171', 'Disease') :: ['structural lung disease', 'structural lung abnormalities'] @entity4595 :: ('MESH:D001987', 'Disease') :: ['bronchiectasis'] @entity1577 :: ('MESH:D003550', 'Disease') :: ['CF', 'cystic fibrosis']
@entity5409 :: (MESH:D052177,Disease) :: ['Cystic']
