Distribution of the Colonoscopic Adenoma Detection Rate According to Age: Is Recommending Colonoscopy Screening for Koreans Over the Age of 50 Safe?

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to determine the distributions of the polyp detection rate (PDR) and the adenoma detection rate (ADR) according to age by analyzing the polypectomy results. METHODS: A total of 10,098 patients who underwent a colonoscopy in 2013 were included in this study. Chi-square and logistic regression statistical analyses were performed using SPSS ver. 19. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 52.7 years old (median, 54 +/- 12.52 years; range, 14 to 92 years). A total of 6,459 adenomatous polyps (61.7%) from a total of 10,462 polyps were eliminated. The PDR was 50.9% (5,136/10,098), and the. ADR was 35.4% (3,579/10,098). The male-to-female ratio was 51.3%:48.7%, with a male-to-female ADR ratio of 42.8% : 27.7% (P < 0.001). In the age distribution, the values of the ADR were 0% for patients in their 10's, 6.3% for those in their 20's, 14.0% for those in their 30's, 28.7% for those in their 40's, 38.4% for those in their 50's, 46.2% for those in their 60's, 55.8% for those in their 70's, 56.1% for those in their 80's, and 33.3% for those in their 90's. In males, the values of the ADR were 0%, 9.1%, 17.1%, 37.8%, 48.2%, 53.6%, 61.7%, 59.1%, and 33.3% for the same age distribution, and a steep increase was found between patients in their 30's and patients in their 40's. Significant (P < 0.001) factors influencing the ADR included sex, previous colonoscopy experience, polypectomy method, and age of more than 40 years. CONCLUSION: In considering the adenoma carcinoma sequence, 28.7% of people, especially 37.8% of males in their 40's showed adenomatous polyps. Whether an earlier first-time colonoscopy will have better results in preventing colorectal cancer should be investigated and discussed.

Limited Feasibility in Endovascular Aneurysm Repair Using Currently Available Graft in Korea

Despite the wide acceptance of endovascular aneurysmal repair in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR), stringent morphologic criteria recommended by manufacturers may preclude this treatment in patients with AAA. The purpose of this study was to investigate how many patients are feasible by Zenith and Excluder stent graft system, which are available in Korea. Eighty-two AAA patients (71 men, mean age 70 yr) who had been treated surgically or medically from January 2005 to December 2006 were included. Criteria for morphologic suitability (MS) were examined to focus on characteristics of aneurysm; proximal and distal landing zone; angulation and involvement of both iliac artery aneurysms. Twenty-eight patients (34.1%) were feasible in Zenith stent graft and 31 patients (37.8%) were feasible in Excluder. The patients who were excluded EVAR had an average of 1.61 exclusion criteria. The main reasons for exclusion were an unfavorable proximal neck (n=34, 41.5%) and problem of distal landing zone (n=25, 30.5%). There was no statistical significance among gender, age or aneurysm size in terms of MS. Only 32 patients (39%) who had AAA were estimated to be suitable for two currently approved grafts by strict criteria. However, even unfavorable AAA patients who have severe co-mobidities will be included in EVAR in the near future. Therefore, more efforts including fine skill and anatomical understanding will be needed to meet these challenging cases.

The Accuracy of Arterial Waveform Analysis in Predicting Arterial Lesions Diagnosed by CT Angiography in Symptomatic Patients

PURPOSE: CT angiography (CTA) is established as a standard method for the evaluation of patients with peripheral arterial disease. However, there are some drawbacks including overestimation of stenotic lesions as well as dye toxicity and allergic reactions and renal function impairment. Arterial waveform analysis (AWA) is widely accepted as a diagnostic as well as a screening tool in the vascular laboratory. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the AWA compared to the CTA. METHOD: One hundred thirty-eight AWA procedures were performed among symptomatic patients in our laboratory between October 2004 and February 2007. Sixty patients were entered into the study; they were eligible to have AWA and CTA synchronously. There were 5 women and 55 men with an average age of 64 years. The disease entities were atherosclerosis in 53, Burger's disease in three, popliteal entrapment in 2, arterial embolism in 1 and vascular trauma in one. Continuous-wave Doppler velocity waveforms were recorded at the common femoral, popliteal and dorsal pedal and posterior tibial arterial levels with compression cuffs. Four hundred and eighty segmental interpretations were analyzed and compared with the CTA findings. RESULT: The sensitivity of the AWA to detect iliac, femoropopliteal and tibial lesions were 93.8%, 64.4% and 88.4% respectively. The specificity of the AWA for the iliac, femoropopliteal and tibial lesions were 87.3%, 93.4% and 95.6% respectively. Overall, the accuracy of the AWA was 88.9% compared to the CT findings. Additional exercise AWA improved the results from 82.8 % to 88.6% for the overall sensitivity of the AWA. The 20 false positives included technical problems in 14 and reference errors (CTA) in six that were due to calcifications. There were 33 false negatives mostly from cases with stenosis and good collaterals. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the AWA was a valuable method for the prediction of hemodynamically significant arterial lesions. The addition of highly skilled operators and a protocol including a high thigh cuff application might improve the accuracy of this diagnostic method.