Colorectal Cancer
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2005. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2005; 11(25): 3866-3870
Published online Jul 7, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i25.3866
Assessment of spiral CT pneumocolon in preoperative colorectal carcinoma
Can-Hui Sun, Zi-Ping Li, Quan-Fei Meng, Shen-Ping Yu, Da-Sheng Xu
Can-Hui Sun, Zi-Ping Li, Quan-Fei Meng, Shen-Ping Yu, Da-Sheng Xu, Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Medical Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, No. A2002185
Correspondence to: Dr. Zi-Ping Li, Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China. liziping163@163.net
Telephone: +86-20-87335415 Fax: +86-20-87750632
Received: October 9, 2004
Revised: November 23, 2004
Accepted: November 26, 2004
Published online: July 7, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the value of spiral CT pneumocolon in preoperative colorectal carcinoma.

METHODS: Spiral CT pneumocolon was performed prior to surgery in 64 patients with colorectal carcinoma. Spiral CT images were compared to specimens from the resected tumor.

RESULTS: Spiral CT depicted the tumor in all patients. Comparison of spiral CT and histologic results showed that the sensitivity and specificity were 95.2%, 40.9% in detection of local invasion, and 75.0%, 90.9% in detection of lymph node metastasis. Compared to the Dukes classification, the disease was correctly staged as A in 6 of 18 patients, as B in 18 of 23, as C in 10 of 15, and as D in 7 of 8. Overall, spiral CT correctly staged 64.1% of patients.

CONCLUSION: Spiral CT pneumocolon may be useful in the preoperative assessment of patients with colorectal carcinoma as a means for assisting surgical planning.

Keywords: Tomography; X-ray compute; Pneumocolon; Preoperative staging; Colorectal cancer