AuntMinnie.com Virtual Colonoscopy Insider

Dear AuntMinnie Insider,

Extracolonic findings are an enduring issue in virtual colonoscopy if ever there was one. In some cases nabbing an unexpected renal cancer or abdominal aortic aneurysm can save a patient's life. Other findings have little or no clinical importance, and simply add risk and costs to the VC exam when they are followed up.

In one sense the issue is VC's alone; the findings cannot be seen at optical colonoscopy. Yet the screening dilemma is all too familiar to anyone who's performed whole-body CT, or scanned smokers for lung cancer.

In a frank talk at last week's International Symposium on Virtual Colonoscopy in Boston, Dr. Mark Klein touched on the clinical, ethical, and legal issues surrounding VC's "pesky double-edged sword," weighing in with his own ideas on costs and patient management. For the rest of the story, just click on our Insider Exclusive, delivered to Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community subscribers like you first.

Also of note are two more articles from this year's VC symposium, sponsored by the Boston University School of Medicine. In one, Dr. Perry Pickhardt shows how VC was a good "filter" for conventional colonoscopy in more than 3,000 patients. In another, noted gastroenterologist and epidemiologist Dr. David Ransohoff looks at what is known about the natural history of polyps.

You're invited to read about a state-of-the-art electronic cleansing application that goes beyond the capabilities of threshold-based algorithms for separating residual stool from mucosa. This issue also features several stories on the genetics of colorectal cancer, all available with a quick scroll through your Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community.