TAC on Computed Tomography and the Risk of COPD Progression

atsjournals.org January 4, 2018

Total Airway Count (TAC) may reflect the airway-related disease changes that accumulate in the “quiet” zone in early/mild Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), indicating that TAC acquired with commercially available software across various CT platforms may be a biomarker to predict accelerated COPD progression. Participants included never-smokers (n = 286), smokers with normal spirometry at risk for COPD (n = 298), Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) I COPD (n = 361), and GOLD II COPD (n = 239).