Colonic Adenoma

When a 59-year-old man's stool tested positive for occult blood, colonoscopic evaluation was carried out. This is the endoscopic appearance of a pedunculated colonic adenoma-the source of the bleeding-being removed by a snare.

Colonic adenomas may vary considerably in size, ranging from those that are barely visible to large sessile or pedunculated masses. Because cancer of the colon usually arises from preexisting and increasingly adenomatous mucosa, Dr Virendra A. Parikh of Fort Wayne, Ind, warns that periodic endoscopic screening is required for persons who have a history of colonic polyps.