Value of colonoscopy in the detection of sigmoid malignancy in patients with diverticular disease

Sixty patients with diverticular disease, referred because a barium enema examination could not exclude a co-existing malignanty, were studied in a retrospective manner, to find out the contribution of colonoscopy in the diagnosis of sigmoid carcinoma in such patients. All X-ray studies were blindly reviewed and divided in two categories: a) diverticular disease with malignancy or strong suspicion for malignancy and b) diverticular disease without suspicion for malignancy. The accuracy of the endoscopical examination was evaluated by a follow-up study with a range of 3 months-3 years. Colonoscopy appeared to be accurate in more than 3/4 of the referred patients but was not helpful when there was a severe stenoisis and/or the diseases segment could not be reached for biopsy. The incidence diminished when a small calibre fiberendoscope was used, practically always allowing to reach or to pass the stenotic segment. There were no false positive nor false negative endoscopical results in our study. In a substantial number of patients major surgical exploration could be prevented. We consider colonoscopy therefore a valuable adjunct in detecting or eliminating cancer in colonic diverticular disease. The availability of various fiberendoscopic instruments is a prerequisite for reaching an acceptable success rate and diagnostic accuracy.