Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Is the gastroenterology community finally ready to accept virtual colonoscopy (VC)? After years of pooh-poohing the technology, gastroenterologists appear ready to admit that VC (also known as CT colonography) has a role to play in colon screening.
That's the word from this week's International Symposium on Virtual Colonoscopy in Boston, where staff writer Eric Barnes is on hand to report for our Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community.
In a presentation on Monday, the president of the American Gastroenterological Association's education arm talked about how gastroenterologists and radiologists can work together to bring VC to the masses. Dr. Nicholas LaRusso discussed training, reimbursement, and which technology -- VC or optical colonoscopy -- should be used for which kind of patients. Get the rest of the story by clicking here.
In another article we're featuring in the community, we address the importance of training in achieving adequate diagnostic accuracy in VC screening. A new study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, found that a good training program could increase the sensitivity of novice readers to that of more experienced radiologists.
Read about that story by clicking here, or get the rest of our VC news in the Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community at vc.auntminnie.com.
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
