No abstract

The purpose of our study was to compare survival rates of colon carcinoma patients who had undergone attempted curative hepatic resection based on liver staging by computed tomographic angiography (CTA) or portography (CTAP) with previously reported survival rates of patients who underwent similar surgery without preoperative CTAP evaluations. A total of 404 CTAP studies performed at three institutions were reviewed. Of this group, 197 had colon carcinoma. Sixty-nine of the colon patients went to surgery. Actuarial adjusted yearly survival rates were calculated for the prior CTAP colon group and compared to historical controls. The control survival data were taken from reports published prior to the CTAP era. Our study demonstrated no difference in the 1-year survival data between the groups. However, the CTAP patients had greater survival in years 2-4. This greater survival may be multifactorial but in part due to better surgical selection caused by CTAP.

No abstract

The use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for evaluating the abdomen and pelvis has been limited by the lack of a suitable contrast agent. The purpose of this study was to compare axial MR imaging after rectal barium administration with computed tomography (CT) for delineation of normal anatomy and lesions of the pelvis. MR images and CT scans of 11 patients were studied retrospectively and independently by four radiologists. No substantial differences in the visualization of normal bowel, iliac vessels, lymph nodes, bladder, prostate, seminal vesicles, uterus, and cervix and in detection of abnormalities were seen between CT scans and axial MR images obtained after barium administration. This preliminary study suggests that axial MR imaging with rectal barium is a useful alternative to CT in evaluating pelvic disease.