[Virtual Colonoscopy. Experience in 500 patients].
OBJECTIVE
To show our experience and results in Virtual Colonoscopy (VC).


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Carrascosa
Patricia
P
Hospital de Gastroenterología Dr. Bonorino Udaondo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. investigacion@diagnosticomaipu.com.ar
Capuñay
C
C
Castiglioni
R
R
Sangster
G
G
Corti
R
R
Smith
Dava
D
Carrascosa
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D023881:Colonography, Computed Tomographic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016037:Single-Blind Method