Video: Large, Multi-Center Trial Demonstrates Comparable Accuracy for Virtual Colonoscopy and Standard C...( PHILADELPHIA Sept. 17 /- Computer...),Health

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Computerized tomographic (CT) colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, is comparable to standard colonoscopy, which uses a long, flexible tube with a camera to view the lining of the colon, in its ability to accurately detect cancer and precancerous polyps and could serve as an initial screening exam for colorectal cancer, according to the results of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) National CT Colonography Trial.

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(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080917/NYW148 )

CT colonography employs virtual reality technology to produce a three-dimensional visualization that permits a thorough and minimally invasive evaluation of the entire colon and rectum. The ACRIN trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), enrolled more than 2,600 patients at 15 sites nationwide. It is the largest multi-center study to compare the accuracy of state-of-the-art CT colonography to the gold standard of conventional colonoscopy. The results of this study are published in the Sept. 18, 2008, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"CT colonography could be adopted into the mainstream of clinical practice as a primary option for colorectal cancer screening. We hope that this additional, less-invasive option for cancer screening will lead more people to get screened and will ultimately result in fewer deaths from colorectal cancer," said ACRIN National CT Colonography Trial principal investigator C. Daniel Johnson, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Colorectal cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer and second leading cause of cancer dea
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