Cancer and Diverticulitis of the Sigmoid Colon. Differentiation with Computed Tomography Versus Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Preliminary Experiences:

BackgroundBoth colon cancer and diverticular disease are common in the Western world. A challenge when patients present with clinical findings is that both diseases can present with symptoms that may mimic the other.PurposeTo determine whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be helpful to differentiate between diverticulitis and cancer of the sigmoid colon compared to the differentiation offered by evaluation of multidetector computed tomography (CT) in a clinical situation.Material and MethodsThirty patients were consecutively included. Fifteen patients were under work-up for a recently diagnosed sigmoid cancer and 15 patients had recently been treated in hospital due to first-time acute sigmoid diverticulitis. All patients underwent CT, T2-weighted MRI and diffusion-weighted MRI. Anonymized examinations were retrospectively presented in random order to one experienced radiologist.ResultsWith contrast-enhanced CT, the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of cancer and diverticulitis were 66.7...