In a session at RSNA 2013, members of the Department of Radiology B. Dustin Pooler, M.D., and Perry J. Pickhardt, M.D. discussed a large University of Wisconsin study about CT colonography, its effectiveness, and future clinical uses in a colon cancer screening program.
Dr. Pickhardt was a session moderator, and the paper from UW was presented by Dr. Pooler, an author on the paper along with Pickhardt and UW colleague David H. Kim, M.D.
In UW’s study, over 7,000 patients underwent their first time CT colonography screening, and approximately 750 patients had colon polyps.
According to Dr. Pooler’s presentation, polyps that were more likely to be confirmed were sessile in shape, located within the left colon, and initially called with high diagnostic confidence on CT colonography. Those that were more likely to be discordant were flat in shape, located within the right side colon, and called with low diagnostic confidence.
“It’s important to understand which characteristics might cause polyps to be overcalled—or missed—by colonoscopists, so we can provide a better screening test and optimal care for our patients,” Dr. Pooler said.