Growing body of evidences have shown that narrow band imaging (NBI) can be the adjunct tool of colonoscopy for real time or optical histological assessment with high accuracy and largely replaces the role of chromoendoscopy. In spite of the advantages, there are still several issues that remain to be elucidated: detectability of neoplastic lesions, diagnosis of malignant transformation, evaluation of invasion depth for cancerous lesion, morphological diagnosis and interobserver agreement. Endoscopists should be aware of the advantage, current evidence and the limitation of narrow band imaging and apply it appropriately for their clinical practice.
© 2011 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2011 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.