Evaluation of chest computed tomography in the staging of patients with potentially resectable liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma

Pulmonary staging in colorectal cancer: a review

“…Five nonrandomized studies (one abstract and four published manuscripts) compared either CXR and abdominal CT or abdominal CT alone with combined chest/abdominal CT for detecting pulmonary abnormalities in patients with CRC (Table 1) [10–14].…”

“…In 1999, Kronawitter et al . [13] reported that chest CT increased the yield of pulmonary metastases compared with CXR (10 out of 202 vs 0 out of 202). The authors concluded that this yield was low and questioned the use of chest CT in this setting.…”

Prospective comparison between magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography in colorectal cancer staging

“…While DW-MRI is reported to have a high accuracy for peritoneal metastases, 8 its efficacy in colorectal cancer has not been proven. Our prospective cohort did not include any patients with extrahepatic metastases and thus we were unable to determine the diagnostic accuracy of DW-MRI for extrahepatic disease sites.…”

Guidelines for resection of colorectal cancer liver metastases

“…23 A chest CT is ideal to assess the presence of pulmonary metastases but the positive yield of CT scan in patients with a normal chest x ray at the time of presentation with potentially resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer is only 5%. 24 Complete colonic examination by colonoscopy, CT pneumocolon, or barium enema should be carried out, ideally in the preoperative period in patients with colorectal cancer as there is a significant risk of recurrent tumour or of a metachronous lesion. 19 Given that measurement of CEA levels may be useful in the follow up of colorectal cancer patients, it is desirable to establish whether levels are elevated at the time of initial presentation.…”