| Objective To investigate the value of dual-energy CT (DECT) quantitative parameters combined with extracellular volume fraction (ECV) in preoperatively predicting Ki-67 expression level in lung adenocarcinoma. Methods?A retrospective collection was conducted on 153 patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma confirmed by surgery and pathology who underwent chest DECT enhanced scanning in our hospital from December 2024 to December 2025. Patients were divided into high expression group (Ki-67 > 25%, n=80) and low expression group (Ki-67 ≤ 25%, n=73) according to postoperative immunohistochemical Ki-67 expression level. Iodine concentration (IC), normalized iodine concentration (NIC), effective atomic number (Zeff), spectral curve slope (λ) in arterial and venous phases, as well as ECV in delayed phase, were measured. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between each parameter and Ki-67 expression. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to screen independent predictors and construct a combined prediction model. The predictive efficacy of the model was evaluated using ROC curve and DeLong test. Results?Ki-67 expression was positively correlated with ECV (r=0.525) and lymph node metastasis (r=0.506) (both P<0.001), and negatively correlated with venous phase Zeff (r=-0.342), venous phase NIC (r=-0.291), venous phase λ (r=-0.168), and arterial phase IC (r=-0.161) (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that ECV (OR=2.356, 95%CI: 1.742-3.187, P<0.001), venous phase NIC (OR=0.283, 95%CI: 0.092-0.871, P=0.027), and venous phase Zeff (OR=0.279, 95%CI: 0.079-0.988, P=0.048) were independent predictors of high Ki-67 expression. The AUC of the combined model for predicting high Ki-67 expression was 0.853 (95%CI: 0.787-0.905), with a sensitivity of 77.50% and specificity of 80.82%, which was significantly higher than that of ECV (AUC=0.803), venous phase NIC (AUC=0.668), and venous phase Zeff (AUC=0.698) (DeLong test, all P<0.05). Conclusion?DECT quantitative parameters combined with ECV can non-invasively predict Ki-67 expression level in lung adenocarcinoma preoperatively. The combined model of ECV, venous phase NIC, and venous phase Zeff has high diagnostic efficacy and can provide valuable reference for clinical preoperative decision-making, facilitating the formulation of individualized treatment plans. |