The Differential Diagnosis of Colorectal Polyps Using Colon Capsule Endoscopy

Objective Although colorectal polyps (CPs) can be observed with colon capsule endoscopy (CCE), it is difficult to determine the type of polyp using CCE. The objective of this study was to differentiate adenomatous polyps (APs) from hyperplastic polyps (HPs) with CCE. Methods In this single-center retrospective study, an analysis was conducted on the same CPs with both CCE and colonoscopy (CS) and histopathologically diagnosed as AP or HP. The color difference (Delta E) between the polyp surface and the surrounding mucosa was calculated using the CIE1976 L*a*b* color space method on white light (WL), flexible spectral imaging color enhancement (FICE), and blue mode (BM) CP images. We investigated the ability of the ratio of the color differences (Delta E') to differentiate between APs and HPs. Results The size of all 51 polyps (34 APs, 17 HPs) was 7.5 +/- 4.6 mm with CCE and 7.3 +/- 4.2 mm with CS, and this difference was not significant (p=0.28). The FICE Delta E' of APs was 3.3 +/- 1.8, which was significantly higher than the FICE Delta E' of HPs (1.3 +/- 0.6; p<0.001). A receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that FICE Delta E' was useful for differentiating between APs and HPs, with an area under the curve of 0.928 (95% confidence interval, 0.843-1). The sensitivity was 91.2%, and the specificity was 88.2% with a cut-off value of 1.758. Conclusion Using FICE on CCE images of CPs and applying the CIELAB color space method, we were able to differentiate between APs and HPs with high accuracy. This method has the potential to reduce unnecessary CS procedures.