Value of colonoscopy in the detection of sigmoid malignancy in patients with diverticular disease.

Sixty patients with diverticular disease, referred because a barium enema examination could not exclude a co-existing malignanty, were studied in a retrospective manner, to find out the contribution of colonoscopy in the diagnosis of sigmoid carcinoma in such patients. All X-ray studies were blindly reviewed and divided in two categories: a) diverticular disease with malignancy or strong suspicion for malignancy and b) diverticular disease without suspicion for malignancy. The accuracy of the endoscopical examination was evaluated by a follow-up study with a range of 3 months-3 years.