CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1678253
Electrical Impedance Tomography Reveals Regional Lung Dysfunction in Adults with Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry: An Observational Cross Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xijing Hospital Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Xi'an, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- 3Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Objective: Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry (PRISm), is a condition characterized by abnormal spirometry results despite a normal FEV1/FVC ratio. We hypothesized that EIT would detect regional decreases in lung function in subjects with PRISm. The study aimed to explore the regional lung function differences between subjects with preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) and healthy volunteers. Methods: In this observational study, subjects with respiratory symptoms visiting Xijing Hospital in May 2024 were rescreened for eligibility. Subjects meeting the PRISm criteria were included. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and spirometry were conducted simultaneously. The same number of healthy subjects were studied matching the gender, height and weight. The regional lung function parameters were compared. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Sixteen subjects with PRISm and 16 healthy volunteers were included in the study and evaluated. Functional EIT images provided information about the location of the dysfunctional lung regions. All the evaluated EIT-based parameters were worse in the subjects with PRISm. Statistical significances were found in regional obstructive ratio rOR and median of regional time constant τmed (p<0.05). EIT-based parameters were not correlated with spirometry-based parameters, except spirometry FEV1/FVC with rOR (r=-0.53, p=0.03) and with τmed (r=-0.62, p=0.01) in subjects with PRISm. τmed and rOR values were quite low in healthy volunteers, whereas large changes were observed in subjects with PRISm. Conclusions: EIT-based regional lung function provides additional information to traditional spirometry, which visualizes and localizes regional lung function defects.
Keywords: PRISM, EIT (Electrical Impedance Tomography), Regional lung function, visualize, Localize
Received: 02 Aug 2025; Accepted: 23 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Qu, Kong, Han, Ti and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xinyu Ti, ti_xinyufmmu@126.com
Zhanqi Zhao, zhanqizhao@gzhmu.edu.cn
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