Colon Cancer
This 44 year old man presented with a history of several months of rectal bleeding. Further questioning revealed that he had also had a subtle change in bowel habit for the past 6 months and his father had died at an early age of colon cancer. The patient appeared pale and blood tests revealed that he was anemic. This is called iron deficiency anemia and is measured in a test called hemoglobin. A healthy adult male's hemoglobin should be around 14 grams. This patient had a hemoglobin of 9.2 meaning that he had already lost about one-third of his blood.As you might guess, his colonoscopy examination revealed a large nodular colon cancer that is seen in this short video segment. It was about 4" long almost completely obstructing the inside of his colon. In fact, even our new thin pediatric sized colonoscope could not be safely passed beyond this large lesion. Immediate surgery was advised. For more information about colon cancer and ways to prevent it, click here. We suggest that if you have a close relative with colon cancer (father, mother, brother, sister), that you begin a screening program by age 40. Best viewed via a broadband connection such as cable modem or DSL service. A 56K dialup modem may take up to 10 minutes to load.
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Text & Images Courtesy of Three Rivers Endoscopy Center
© Dr. Robert Fusco, Three Rivers Endoscopy Center, All Rights Reserved
© Dr. Robert Fusco, Three Rivers Endoscopy Center, All Rights Reserved