The Role of Computed Tomography Hounsfield Unit Values in the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Cavitary Lung Lesions Computed Tomography Hu Values in the Differentiation of Cavitary Lung Lesions

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to investigate the rote of Hounsfield unit (HU) values measured by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in the differentiation of benign and malignant cavitary lesions (CLs), which are frequently encountered in the lung parenchyma. Material and Methods: In this retrospective descriptive study approved by the relevant ethics committee, thoracic CT records taken for various reasons between 2019 and 2021 were scanned from the hospital database. According to the demographic characteristics and histopathological results, the patients were divided into benign and malignant groups. The HU values of 24 patients with CLs were measured by CT and the averages were calculated. HU values were compared by independent t-test. Results: Of the 24 patients, 20 were mate (83.3%) and 4 were female (16.7%), and the mean age was 59.98 +/- 16.65 (22-78) years. There were a total of 34 cavitary lung lesions in these 24 patients, including 18 benign (52.94%) and 16 malignant (47.06%) lesions. The mean age of 13 patients (54.17%) with benign etiology was 51.62 +/- 18.79 (22-78) and the mean size of all benign lesions was 30.05 +/- 9.51 (16-53) mm. The mean age of the 11 patients (45.83%) with malignant etiology was 68.55 +/- 6.56 (57-78) and the mean size of all malignant lesions was 39.25 +/- 23.45 (13-95) mm. The mean HU values of the 18 benign and 16 malignant CLs were 32.11 +/- 12.25 (15-60) and 63.88 +/- 24.5 (15-109), respectively, representing a statistically significant difference (p=0.001). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve was 86.8%, and when the cut-off was determined as 41.5, the sensitivity was 87.5% and the specificity was 88.9%. Discussion: We think that HU density values measured from the CL wall by contrast-enhanced CT may be useful in the differentiation of frequently detected benign and malignant CLs, which have similar radiological imaging findings.