Tagging Agent Reduces False Positives in Virtual Colonoscopies

E-Z-EM, Inc. has introduced Tagitol™, the first tagging agent developed to improve visualization of the bowel and reduce false positive readings during virtual colonoscopy examinations.

Virtual colonoscopy visualizes the gastrointestinal tract using advanced CT imaging and a computer that produces 3D images. If there is even a small trace of stool in the patient's colon, it can be mistaken for a polyp or other growth, giving a false positive reading.

Doctors then have to spend additional time interpreting virtual colonoscopy images to determine if the image shows retained stool or a clinically significant finding.

Tagitol, a radiopaque contrast medium, marks stool left in the colon so it can be distinguished from surrounding tissue, lessening the incidence of false positives and reducing analysis time required from the physician, researchers were told at the Radiological Society of North America's 87th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago.

"Virtual imaging of the colon is getting wider acceptance in the medical community as an accurate and effective screening tool to detect colon cancer," said Anthony A. Lombardo, President and CEO of E-Z-EM. "Tagging agents like Tagitol will further improve virtual imaging by helping make it easier for doctors to identify and remove suspicious growths."

"Even the smallest amount of retained stool in virtual colonoscopy can appear to be a polyp. This can result in a false positive finding, which means that the patient would be referred for conventional colonoscopy to remove a polyp that was never really there -- the very thing we want to avoid," said Dr. Anthony Stauffer, Medical Director of the Mission Regional Imaging Center, in Mission Viejo, California.

"In the past, a great deal of time was spent in the analysis of images to assure that retained stool was not mistaken for polyps. But with this new tagging agent, we can better overcome the problem of residual stool and complete the examination with an accurate diagnosis," Stauffer said.

Tagitol can be used with software that allows doctors to eliminate the stool electronically from the virtual image.

Other Sources: E-Z-EM Inc.