DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i10.002

Pages: 3557-3563

The objectives of present study is to study the CT characteristics of benign and malignant lesions of the colon and rectum, to assess the effectiveness of MDCT in differentiating benign and malignant colorectal lesions and to assess the role of MDCT in pre-operative tumor staging of colorectal malignancies. Data was collected from 40 patients with wall thickening involving the colorectal region on CT, referred to the Department of Radio Diagnosis, PDVVPF's Medical College, and Ahmednagar. CT findings are confirmed with histo-pathological diagnosis. CT will be performed using 16 slice GE Light Speed CT scanner. All patients will be placed in the supine position on the CT table, and a rectal tube will be inserted. Room air will be gently insufflated into the colon to get adequate colonic distension. CT acquisitions will be performed in the arterial phase (start delay of 25-35 seconds) and in the portal venous phase (start delay of 50- 70 seconds) with a section width of 5 mm. All the 36 malignant lesions were correctly diagnosed on CT. 8 of the 9 benign lesions were correctly diagnosed on CT, except one case with an inflammatory lesion of the colon which was diagnosed as a malignancy on CT. In the CT staging of malignant lesions, 9 of the 11 cases were correctly staged as T1&T2 lesions. 16 of the 18 cases were correctly staged as T3 lesions and all the 7 cases were correctly staged as T4 lesions. MDCT proved to be an excellent modality in the diagnosis and differentiation of benign and malignant lesions of the colon and rectum as well as useful in the staging of malignant lesions which helps in proper planning of surgery and further management. Also it provides further information regarding pericolic abnormalities associated with the lesion, presence of lymph nodes, infiltration of adjacent viscera and the presence of distant metastases.