News

Studies Say Accuracy of CT Colonography Equivalent to Optical Colonoscopy

Two new studies show that CT colonoscopy detects cancer just as well as traditional optical colonoscopy, thus deepening the evidence base for the CT procedure and likely increasing the chances that it will be covered by more payers. 

 

• One study, performed at the University of Wisconsin and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 3, 2007, concluded: “Primary CTC [CT colonography] and OC [optical colonoscopy] screening strategies resulted in similar detection rates for advanced neoplasia, although the number of polypectomies and complications were considerably smaller in the CTC group.  These findings support the use of CTC as a primary screening test before therapeutic OC.” Click for abstract. 

 

• The primary results of the other study, the National CT Colonography Trial conducted by the Mayo Clinic at 15 centers nationwide, “demonstrated that CTC is highly accurate for the detection of intermediate and large polyps and that the accuracy of CTC is similar to colonoscopy,” according to a brief summary posted on the website of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network, which coordinated the study.   Although the full results of the study are not expected to be published until later in 2007, a summary of the prliminary findings—as reported at ACRIN’s fall meeting—is availabe at AuntMinnie.com.