Igor Katuščák
Prevention of colorectal cancer has become a major health priority in most countries of the EU. Colonoscopy is the preferred method for the detection and removal of the superficial colorectal neoplasms. However, colonoscopy is not an infallible „gold standard“ and the increasing recognition that colonoscopy is imperfect in its protective effect against colorectal cancer has led to interest in new technologies and strategies that could improve its performance. Narrow band imaging (NBI) is a novel imaging technology allowing a more detailed visualization of mucosal architecture and capillary pattern. The microvascular architecture on the surface of colorectal lesions during NBI colonoscopy was classified into three types capillary pattern (CP): non-neoplastic CP type I and neoplastic (CP II and CP III) types. Preliminary data suggest that NBI colonoscopy may help differentiate neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal lesions and is considered to be clinically very effective as a new diagnostic modality for routine screening colonoscopy.