The Great Mimickers

Readers of capsule endoscopy must have experience in interpreting endoscopic images, to differentiate normal from abnormal. The reader must be able to diagnose based on the images. This will allow the dismissal of normal variants and non-pathologic lesions and the identification of specific pathologies requiring specific therapies. The basic rules of interpreting these difficult images include (1) looking at the surrounding mucosa for other clues, (2) not basing diagnosis on a single image if possible, (3) viewing the video flow of images to see the intestinal lining before or after the lesions and (4) looking for similar abnormalities in images well before or after the images in question.

Keywords: capsule endoscopy, interpretation, reading, normal variants