To determine the feasibility of ECS to directly detect the amebic parasites in vivo.
Prospective, single-center, pilot study.
Tertiary-care university hospital.
This study involved 5 patients who were suspected to have amebic colitis by conventional colonoscopy in our institute.
A super-magnifying ECS with 450 × magnification.
We compared ECS findings with those of conventional methods—serum antibody tests and histology of colon biopsy specimens.
We successfully visualized the amebic trophozoites in all 5 cases. In contrast, 3 specimens had positive results on serology, and 3 had positive histology results on hematoxylin and eosin staining.
Pilot study with a limited number of patients. Findings were compared only with serology and histology findings.
ECS would be a useful tool for the prompt diagnosis of amebic colitis via the real-time in vivo visualization of amebic trophozoites.