Press releases

Released January 28, 2004
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven Hospital becomes one of the first Connecticut hospitals to offer a "virtual colonoscopy"

For more information, call Dr. James Brink at (203) 785-6938.

Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) has become one of the first Connecticut hospitals to offer patients a new procedure called CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, for early detection of colorectal cancer. This minimally invasive method for examination of the entire colon uses data from computed tomography (CT) to generate both two-dimensional and three-dimensional displays of the colon and rectum.

A virtual colonoscopy provides an attractive alternative for use in widespread screening, as it requires no intravenous administration of sedatives, analgesia or recovery time. The test does require the same bowel-cleansing preparation as conventional colonoscopy, as well as the insertion of a rectal tube and the insufflation of air to distend the colon. However, sedation is not required and the time required for the procedure is approximately 10-15 minutes with an additional 15-30 minutes for the interpretation of the data.

"In the past, conventional colonoscopy had to be administered by the insertion of an intravenous catheter for sedatives, with a recovery time of 30-60 minutes," said James Brink, MD, chief of diagnostic radiology at Yale-New Haven Hospital and professor, interim chair of abdominal imaging at the Yale School of Medicine. "The total time for admission, the performance of the procedure and the after-monitoring used to take up to two hours. Now, we have improved the comfort level of the patient, while reducing the recovery time."

There are nearly 60,000 deaths each year attributed to colorectal cancer, making it the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. "We believe that this new procedure will make a tremendous impact in early detection of polyps," said Dr. Brink. "In addition to providing the means to screen the colon noninvasively, CT colonography may also permit detection of polyps that are difficult to see on a standard physical colonoscopy. Polyps that are concealed from view behind a colonic fold or above a colonic stricture may be detected more readily with a virtual colonoscopy."

Dr. Brink added that because there is no need for sedation, CT colonography is better tolerated than conventional colonoscopy. In the past, patients often complained that a conventional colonoscopy could be quite uncomfortable.

At this point in time, unlike conventional colonoscopy procedures, CT colonography is not covered by Medicare. Dr. Brink also points out that patients with suspicious polyps must still have a conventional colonoscopy to have them removed. And, mucosal changes indicative of colitis are not recognizable with a virtual colonoscopy.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is a 944-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven was founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826 and today, the hospital complex includes Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, with a combined medical staff of about 2,400 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties.

Reporters: For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio.

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