An Atlanta surgery center is warning 456 patients that their colonoscopies might have put them at risk of HIV and other diseases.

Piedmont Healthcare has advised the patients that they should be tested for HIV as well as hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The concerns involve surgeries at Piedmont West Surgery Center on Howell Mill Road between May 2011 and mid-April of this year.

Piedmont said no patient has reported problems.

Statistically, the risk of transmission of disease "is actually quite remote," said Dr. Leigh Hamby, Piedmont's chief medical officer.

Piedmont said the surgery center staff cleaned the endoscopy instruments with enzymatic soap after each use. However, officials said the staff failed to perform the final recommended step of soaking the equipment in a high-level disinfectant.

Tags: health, HIV, infection, colonoscopies, hepatitis C, Piedmont Healthcare, gpbwell, hepatitis B