Value of window technique in diagnosis of the ground glass opacities in patients with non-small cell pulmonary cancer

The aim of the present study was to examine the value of window technique in qualitative diagnosis of the ground glass opacities (GGO) in patients with non-small cell pulmonary cancer. A total of 124 clinically suspected pulmonary cancer patients were analyzed retrospectively. The lesions were affirmed by puncture biopsy, and were GGO on pulmonary window while were invisible on mediastinal window. Sixty-four multi-detector spiral computed tomography with the window width and window level of 1,500 Hounsfield units (HU) and -450 HU on pulmonary window, while the window width and window level of 400 and 40 HU on mediastinal window, was used in the study. The window adjustment technique was used to analyze the window width and window level of lesion on pulmonary window and mediastinal window, for searching invisible threshold on 3-megapixel medical displays. The diagnostic accuracy and the cut-off value were compared on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The results showed that the window width and window level on pulmonary window and mediastinal window of malignant lesions were significantly less than those of benign ones (P<0.05). The cut-off value on pulmonary window was the window width and window level of 1,300 and -220 HU, the area under the ROC was 0.830 [sensitivity was 72.5%, specificity was 84.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.712-0.945]. The cut-off value on mediastinal window was the window width and window level of 360 and 30 HU, and the area under the ROC was 0.623 (was 62.0%, specificity was 55.7%; 95% CI, 0.541-0.745). In conclusion, the window technique has high sensitivity and accuracy in qualitative diagnosis of the GGO.