Evaluation of the efficacy of Virtual Colonoscopy in assessment of colorectal lesions using conventional Optical Colonoscopy as the gold standard

Abstract Colorectal pathology in the present era is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Optical Colonoscopy has been the Gold Standard investigation for the diagnosis of colorectal diseases however a better investigation is required to attain high diagnostic yield along with minimal invasiveness and good patient acceptance. Virtual Colonoscopy offers another modality for assessment of colorectal pathology and promises to play an important role in the future in this regard. Method Forty-two patients suspected of having colorectal lesions were included in the present study over one year period. Patients were assessed by Optical Colonsocopy (OC) and Virtual Colonoscopy (VC) and the efficacy of VC was compared statistically with OC. Results 38 patients demonstrated lesions in a study population of 42 on OC. VC was able to detect lesions in 37 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of VC was 97.4% and 100% respectively. The results obtained by VC were comparable to OC ( p  > 0.05). Conclusion Virtual Colonoscopy is a new 3D diagnostic modality. Its efficacy in lesion detection, less time requirement for performance, good patient compliance, and detection of extracolonic lesions in addition to colonic findings make it a favourable choice for assessing colonic lesions.