[Potentialities of virtual colonoscopy multispiral computed tomography in the diagnosis of colon pathology]

The trial enrolled 626 patients aged 2 to 82 years (mean age 47 +/- 3,2 years), including 548 patients with tumors (adenomatous polyps and carcinoma) of the colon and 78 with its inflammatory diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease). Among them there were 330 men and 296 women. All the patients gave their consent for virtual colonoscopy (VC). They all also underwent endoscopic colonoscopy. The minimum size of a detected polyp on VC multispiral computed tomography (MSCT) scans was 4 mm in diameter. The study showed that VC MSCT had a high sensitivity in detecting various colon diseases, particularly 93% sensitivity in identifying space-occupying lesions, comfortability for the patient compared to endoscopic colonoscopy and irrigoscopy, and a rather high capacity and a low radiation load (compared to irrigoscopy). The quality of examination during VC MSCT depends on how the patient has been prepared (the most complete colon cleansing before the examination). A complete set of postprocedure processes of images should be used to improve the quality of examination. The exclusive prerogative of VC MSCT is to study the thickness of the wall and its lesion extent and to evaluate pericolitic changes, the lymphatic apparatus and mesentery, and in parallel with abdominal parenchymatous organs. This procedure is especially indicated for incomplete or contraindicative endoscopic colonoscopy, examination of the parietal segments of the colon in children to detect developmental malformations.