COMPARISON OF COLONOSCOPY AND FECAL OCCULT BLOOD TESTING AS A FIRST-LINE SCREENING OF COLONIC LESIONS IN PATIENTS WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED ACROMEGALY.
Fausto Bogazzi1, Martina Lombardi1, Ilaria Scattina1, Claudio Urbani1, Emanuele Marciano2, Aurelio Costa2,Pasquale Pepe3, Giuseppe Rossi3, and Enio Martino1.
Departments of Endocrinology and Metabolism 1 and Oncology 2 University of Pisa, Italy, Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics 3 Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council [C.N.R.], Pisa, Italy

Content Patients with acromegaly have frequently colonic neoplasms; however, how acromegalic patients should be screened for colonic lesions is still unsettled. Aims To compare fecal occult blood testing [FOBT] and colonoscopy in the screening program of patients with acromegaly. Design Colonoscopy and FOBT were performed at the first diagnosis of acromegaly. Setting Tertiary University center. Patients Eighty-five consecutive patients with untreated active acromegaly submitted to colonoscopy and FOBT. Results FOBT, which was positive in 16 [18.8%] out of 85 patients, identified 2 patients with colonic adenocarcinoma and 2 with adenoma; the remaining 12 patients had no detectable colonic lesions. Colonoscopy revealed colonic lesions in 29 patients: 3 [3,5%] cancers, 11 [12,9%] adenomas and 15 [17,6%] hyperplastic polyps. The remaining 56 acromegalic patients had no detectable lesions. A patient with cancer and 9 patients with adenoma were missed if screened only by FOBT. Conclusions Colonoscopy is superior to FOBT in detecting colonic lesions at the first diagnosis of acromegaly.

DOI: 10.3275/6867 pubblicato: 24.02.2010 [« Indietro]  [Manoscritto accettato]