Stool tagging applied in thin-slice multidetector computed tomography colonography.

Objective: To compare thin-slice multidetector computed tomography colonography (CTC) that uses stool tagging with colonoscopy.
Method: One hundred fifty patients scheduled for colonoscopy underwent high-resolution CTC. An iodinated contrast agent was added to the preparation to tag the residual colonic fluid and stool. The effect of fluid tagging was assessed first. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for two independent readers. In addition, values were recalculated separately for the first and last 75 patients.
Results: Tagging was optimal in 95.3% of the cases, and reader confidence was high. Sensitivities were 64.1%-66.7% (for the 2 readers) for 5- to 9-mm polyps and 91.7% for larger polyps. The overall specificity was 94.2% and 95%. Sensitivity improved during the study for both 5- to 9-mm polyps (from 54.2%-58.3% to 80%) and polyps larger than 9 mm (from 50% to 100%). Specificity changed nonuniformly.
Conclusion: The combination of fluid tagging and high-resolution scanning in CTC showed high sensitivity and specificity, especially concerning sensitivity for polyps of 10 mm and larger.