Pneumocolography and virtual colonoscopy: its clinical place and development

Abstract

Colonoscopy is an invasive technique, frequently incomplete and often poorly tolerated in elderly patients. New, less invasive modalities are being developed to diagnose moderate-sized adenomatous polyps and colorectal caners which involve pneumo- or hydrocolography with high-resolution surface imaging, either by CT or MR scanning. This approach has recently been supplemented by complex image post-processing to provide a form of virtual colonoscopy which takes account of projected colonic direction and which can map for mucosal anomalies. It remains to be seen how sensitive these newer techniques are and whether defined algorithms for colonic representation can be agreed upon which will prove both accurate and cost-effective both in symptomatic and screening populations.