Graded compression sonography of the colon in the diagnosis of polyps in pediatric patients

OBJECTIVE: We report seven cases of juvenile polyps detected by graded compression gray-scale and color Doppler sonography in five children with nonspecific symptoms. CONCLUSION: Intestinal polyps can be detected by graded compression gray-scale and color Doppler sonography without colonic preparation. On gray-scale sonography, polyps appeared as spherical or ovoid hypoechoic nodules in the colon lumen. Small cysts were identified inside the nodules. Four polyps had fewer and smaller cysts, whereas three others contained many cysts. A hyperechoic layer surrounding the polyp corresponded to the submucosa. In two patients, the polyp was visualized in the transverse colon and caused a colocolic intussusception, which reduced spontaneously during sonography. Color Doppler sonography showed four hypovascularized and three hypervascularized polyps.