[How reliable is radiology in the diagnosis of large bowel carcinoma?]

In 262 patients with clinically suspect cancer of the large bowel, results of barium enemas were evaluated. Testing method was coloscopy. Out of 62 cases in which barium enema revealed a "typical" carcinoma, 17 were false positive. In 81 of 110 cases in which the result of barium enema was questionable, a malignant lesion could be ruled out. In 17 out of 90 cases with negative radiologic findings a carcinoma was found.