CT colonography: comparison of a colon dissection display versus 3D endoluminal view for the detection of polyps

Eur Radiol. 2006 Jan;16(1):68-72. doi: 10.1007/s00330-005-2805-y. Epub 2005 Jun 14.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare sensitivity, specificity, and postprocessing time of a colon dissection approach to regular 3D-endoluminal workup of computed tomography (CT) colonography for the detection of polypoid lesions. Twenty-one patients who had received conventional colonoscopy after CT colonography were selected; 18 patients had either colon polyps or colon cancer and three had no findings. CT colonography was performed using a 4-channel multi-detector-row (MDR) CT in ten cases and a 16-channel MDR-CT in 11 cases. A blinded reader retrospectively evaluated all colonographies using both viewing methods in a randomized order. Thirty-seven polyps were identified by optical colonoscopy. An overall per-lesion sensitivity of 47.1% for lesions smaller than 5 mm, 56.3% for lesions between 5 mm and 10 mm, and 75.0% for lesion larger than 10 mm was calculated using the colon dissection approach. This compared to an overall per-lesion sensitivity of 35.3% (<5 mm), 81.5% (5-10 mm), and 100.0% (>10 mm) using the endoluminal view. The average time consumption for CT colonography evaluation with the colon dissection software was 10 min versus 38 min using the endoluminal view. A colon dissection approach may provide a significant time advantage for evaluation of CT colonography while obtaining a high sensitivity. It is especially superior in the detection of lesions smaller than 5 mm.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Colon / diagnostic imaging*
  • Colonic Polyps / diagnosis*
  • Colonography, Computed Tomographic / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Time Factors