[Occult blood in feces--a prospective study for the comparison of Hemoccult and Fecatest].

Stool samples of 150 unselected patients were tested for occult blood by the Haemoccult test and the Fecatest. The results show that the Haemoccult test is more suitable for screening for cancerous and precancerous colonic lesions than the Fecatest. Less than 10% of the patients had positive stool samples with the Haemoccult test, while bleedings lesions were subsequently found in about 2/3 of the cases. In contrast, the Fecatest was positive in 50% and in 70% after storage. These findings show clearly that the Fecatest cannot be recommended for the screening of colonic tumors.