ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To show our experience and results in Virtual Colonoscopy (VC). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Five hundred patients with personal or familial history of colorectal carcinoma and/or adenomas, or any kind of coloproctologic symptoms were studied. VCs were practiced using a helical CT scanner (300 patients) and a multislice CT scanner (200 patients) a few hours after Conventional Colonoscopy (CC), considered the gold standard. The patients were evaluated in a prospective blind study, to determine sensitivity and specificity of VC. Findings were classified as: 1) normal studies; 2) studies with pathological findings. This one was subdivided into: 2a) Lesions below 5 mm., 2b) Lesions between 5-9 mm., 2c) Lesions above 9 mm. RESULTS: VC detected 253 normal studies whereas CC only detected 233. The sensitivity and specificity for each subgroup were: 2a) 87.8% and 86.9%; 2b) 95.6% and 91.4%; 2c) 100.0% and 100.0% respectively. CONCLUSION: VC is a feasible and useful method for evaluating the entire colon. It is well tolerated, it has no complications and a high sensitivity and specificity for elevated lesions, especially the ones above or equal to 5 mm.
Subject(s)
Middle Aged , Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Colonic Polyps , Colonoscopy , Colorectal Neoplasms , Predictive Value of Tests , Prospective Studies , Sensitivity and Specificity , Single-Blind MethodABSTRACT
Con el objeto de mostrar una nueva modalidad diagnóstica no invasiva en el diagnóstico precoz del cáncer colorrectal se analizaron 46 pacientes seleccionados sobre la base del cuadro clínico y/o los antecedentes de enfermedad colorrectal o poliposis familiar. Los hallazgos obtenidos por colonoscopía virtual los dividimos en siete grupos: lesión polipoidea única (9 pacientes), lesiones polipoideas asociadas (11); estenosis tumorales sin lesión sincrónica (3); estenosis tumorales con lesión sincrónica (6); estenosis no tumorales (4); estudios normales (2); pacientes excluidos por mala preparación. Concluimos que la colonoscopia virtual es una alternativa válida en el screening de la patología colorrectal, presentando algunas ventajas sobre los estudios habituales, ya que no es invasivo, no requiere sedación y permite la estadificación de la enfermedad neoplásica