CT Virtual Colonoscopy for Primary Colorectal Screening

Colorectal cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., despite the fact that it is largely preventable through routine screening. Unfortunately, about half of all adults over 50 years of age have not been screened by any available method and significantly fewer have been evaluated with conventional optical colonoscopy (OC). Explanations for this gap in screening are manifold, but are due in part to issues of availability and patient acceptance. Virtual colonoscopy (VC) is a rapidly evolving CT-based technology that represents a very promising potential screening complement to OC. In a recently published multi-center screening trial, VC compared favorably with OC for the detection of clinically relevant polyps.1 By employing the same technique used in the published trial, implementation of VC as a clinical screening tool would likely increase overall participation in colorectal screening, resulting in increased cancer prevention and decreased mortality.