Pulmonary vasculature development in congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a novel automated quantitative imaging analysis
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Read the article on link.springer.com ↗Article · Mar 2024 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
This study uses AI-powered microCT imaging to quantify pulmonary vascular abnormalities in a rat model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Findings reveal that CDH significantly reduces small vessel numbers and disrupts the normal fractal branching pattern of pulmonary arteries, providing quantitative insight into the vascular basis of pulmonary hypertension in CDH.
- CDH fetuses show significantly reduced number of small pulmonary vessel segments (order 1) bilaterally compared to controls.
- Pulmonary vascular trees in CDH break Horton's law, indicating loss of normal fractal branching architecture.
- Impaired vessel connectivity in CDH affects both ipsilateral and contralateral lungs, explaining bilateral pulmonary hypertension.
- AI-powered microCT analysis enables quantitative assessment of fetal pulmonary vasculature morphometry in CDH models.
- Vascular architectural disruption in CDH extends beyond vessel number reduction to include abnormal branching patterns.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Abstract
Purpose
Impaired fetal lung vasculature determines the degree of pulmonary hypertension in the congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). This study aims to demonstrate the morphometric measurements that differ in pulmonary vessels of fetuses with CDH.
Methods
Nitrofen-induced CDH Sprague–Dawley rat fetuses were scanned with microcomputed tomography. The analysis of the pulmonary vascular tree was performed with artificial intelligence.
Results
The number of segments in CDH was significantly lower than that in the control group on the left (U = 2.5, p = 0.004) and right (U = 0, p = 0.001) sides for order 1(O1), whereas there was a significant difference only on the right side for O2 and O3. The pooled element numbers in the control group obeyed Horton’s law (R2 = 0.996 left and R2 = 0.811 right lungs), while the CDH group broke it. Connectivity matrices showed that the average number of elements of O1 springing from elements of O1 on the left side and the number of elements of O1 springing from elements of O3 on the right side were significantly lower in CDH samples.
Conclusion
According to these findings, CDH not only reduced the amount of small order elements, but also destroyed the fractal structure of the pulmonary arterial trees.