Copyright
©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Sep 25, 2015; 7(13): 1083-1087
Published online Sep 25, 2015. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v7.i13.1083
Published online Sep 25, 2015. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v7.i13.1083
High-resolution anoscopy: Unchartered territory for gastroenterologists?
Andreia Albuquerque, Gastroenterology Department, Centro Hospitalar São João, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Author contributions: Albuquerque A solely contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no financial support or relationships that may pose conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Andreia Albuquerque, MD, Gastroenterology Department, Centro Hospitalar São João, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal. a.albuquerque.dias@gmail.com
Telephone: +351-22-5512100 Fax: +351-22-5025766
Received: May 26, 2015
Peer-review started: May 28, 2015
First decision: July 3, 2015
Revised: July 14, 2015
Accepted: September 1, 2015
Article in press: September 2, 2015
Published online: September 25, 2015
Peer-review started: May 28, 2015
First decision: July 3, 2015
Revised: July 14, 2015
Accepted: September 1, 2015
Article in press: September 2, 2015
Published online: September 25, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: High-resolution anoscopy is a procedure where high-risk patients are submitted to anal and perianal visualization under magnification, allowing detection of anal high-grade lesions that can be treated. Anal cancer is histologically and biologically very similar to cervical cancer and the screening follows the same principles. The importance, difficulties and the description of the technique will be discussed. This is a difficult exam to perform, with a long learning curve that requires specific equipment and the need for a multidisciplinary team, ideally in a reference centre. It remains unfamiliar for many gastroenterologists.