Virtual colonoscopy detects disease outside colon

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

In a new study, nearly one in ten patients having virtual colonoscopy were found to have disease outside the colon.
Virtual colonoscopy uses a computed tomography (CT) scanner to create a three-dimensional image of the colon. It is less invasive than colonoscopy or barium enema. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, now reveal that more information can be gleaned from a virtual colonoscopy than previously believed.

For virtual colonoscopy is, in effect, a CT scan of the entire abdomen and pelvis. In a study of 500 patients, 45 had clinically significant findings outside the colon ranging from kidney cancer to abdominal aortic aneurysm. In 35, the conditions had not previously been diagnosed. Twenty five of them underwent follow up imaging and 13 needed surgery. The findings suggest that not only does virtual colonoscopy help the patient by being less invasive, but it also has the potential to diagnose conditions other than colon polyps and colon cancer.

Source
Radiography August 2005