The assessment of pit pattern on the polyps’ surface as the essential part of high quality colonoscopy

Abstract

The meaning of the term high-quality endoscopy is gradually widening and consists of multiple elements. The highest possible quality of colonoscopies constitutes the basis of anticancer protective action by the identification and treatment of early precancerous lesions. Data from randomised trials demonstrate that only top quality endoscopy has a protective value against colon cancer morbidity. On the other hand, data coming from medical centres which do not meet high standards confirm the lack of protective anticancer value of low-quality colonoscopies and an increased rate of interval cancers. The fundamental indicators of high standards are: caecal intubation rate, adenoma detection rate, colonoscopy withdrawal time and bowel preparation. These parameters are gradually widened to include other factors such as: proximal colon polyp detection rate, retrieval rate of removed polyps, sedation practice and many others. One of the biggest challenges we have to face is the effort to perform endoscopic visual assessment of polyps in vivo. The principal aim of this action is to reduce the number of redundant histopathological tests and in general to reduce histopathology workload for very low-risk lesions, especially polyps ≤5 mm in diameter, this being the so called “resect and discard” strategy. One of useful tools is the assessment of the pattern of colonic crypt outlets, known as the pit pattern. The combination of the pit pattern and the Paris polyp classification determine high-risk lesions well in terms of advanced histology and technical problems with safe removal. Lesions originally found as unresectable should be reassessed and resected endoscopically in experienced expert centres.

Keywords

• high-quality endoscopy
• pit pattern
• interval cancer