Colorectal Cancer Screening: Virtual Colonoscopy

摘要

Colorectal cancer is a largely preventable disease, yet it remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States because of the persistently low screening rates. The reasons for suboptimal screening adherence with conventional (optical) colonoscopy are multifactorial, but they include the relative invasiveness of the procedure and the fear of complications. Computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also referred to as virtual colonoscopy, is a minimally invasive screening test that has rapidly evolved over the past 15 years, transitioning from a promising research tool to a fully validated screening test with considerable potential to boost overall screening rates. CTC holds a number of relative advantages over optical colonoscopy for population screening. Unfortunately, politics and "turf issues-not related to medical science or reason-have primarily delayed widespread acceptance and third-party coverage of CTC screening.