title: Single- vs. double-contrast gastrointestinal studies: critical analysis of reported statistics.
abstract: A literature review of Western publications for the reported sensitivities of single- and double-contrast gastrointestinal examinations indications that certain claims of superiority for the double-contrast technique may be optimistically misleading. Analysis of reports on detection of four entities-gastric cancer, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and colonic polyps-suggests superiority for the double-contrast barium enema for detection of colonic polyps. However, no advantage for single- or double contrast examinations was demonstrable for the detection of gastric cancer, gastric ulcer, or duodenal ulcer.
mesh_terms: D001466:Barium Sulfate; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004733:Enema; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007417:Intestinal Polyps / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013679:Technology, Radiologic
chemical_list: D001466:Barium Sulfate