Abstract
The evaluation of inflammatory activity in Crohn’s disease (CD), a crucial aspect of treatment planning and monitoring, is currently based on a sum of clinical data and imaging findings. Among the contrast enhanced cross-sectional imaging techniques (CE-US, CE-CT, CE-MR), CE-US is less invasive, more comfortable for the patient, and has significant diagnostic accuracy. In addition, it is a portable, easily repeatable, well tolerated, and ionizing radiation-free imaging modality. CE-US has been introduced as effective method in the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of CD inflammatory activity. CE-US might help in characterizing bowel-wall thickening by differentiating inflammatory neovascularisation, edema, and fibrosis. The recent chance to evaluate the bowel-wall stiffness by US elastography imaging could allow further assessment of fibrosis that characterizes the evolution of the inflammatory activity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Shanahan F (2002) Crohn’s disease. Lancet 359:62–69
Válek V, Husty J (2009) Crohn’s disease: clinical-surgical questions and imaging answers. Eur J Radiol 69:375–380
Satsangi J, Silverberg MS, Vermiere S, et al. (2006) The Montreal classification of inflammatory bowel disease: controversies, consensus, and implications. Gut 55:749–753
Louis E, Collard A, Oger AF, et al. (2001) Behaviour of Crohn’s disease according to the Vienna classification: changing pattern over the course of the disease. Gut 49:777–782
Cosnes J, Cattan S, Blain A, et al. (2002) Long-term evolution of disease behavior of Crohn’s disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis 8(4):244–250
Henriksen M, Jahnsen J, Lygren I, et al. (2007) Clinical course of Crohn’s disease: results of a five-year population-based follow-up study (the IBSEN study). Scand J Gastroenterol 42:602–610
Helper DJ (2009) Medical management of Crohn’s disease: a guide for radiologists. Eur J Radiol 69(3):371–374 (Epub Feb 14, 2009)
Sempere GAJ, Martinez Sanjuan V, Medina Chulia E, et al. (2005) MRI evaluation of inflammatory activity in Crohn’s disease. Am J Roentgenol 184:1829–1835
Maccioni F, Bruni A, Viscido A (2005) MR imaging in patients with Crohn disease: value of 2- versus T1-weighted gadolinium-enhanced MR sequences with use of an oral superparamagnetic contrast agent. Radiology 238:517–530
Bodily KD, Fletcher JG, Solem CA (2006) Crohn disease: mural attenuation and thickness at contrast-enhanced CT enterography—correlation with endoscopic and histologic findings of inflammation. Radiology 238:505–516
Solvig J, Ekberg O, Lindgren S, et al. (1995) Ultrasound examination of the small bowel: comparison with enteroclysis in patients with Crohn disease. Abdom Imaging 20:323–326
Miao YM, Koh DM, Amin Z, et al. (2002) Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging assessment of active bowel segments in Crohn’s disease. Clin Radiol 57:913–918
Pradel JA, David XR, Taourel P, et al. (1997) Sonographic assessment of the normal and abnormal bowel wall in nondiverticular ileitis and colitis. Abdom Imaging 2:167–172
Quaia E, Migaleddu V, Baratella E, et al. (2009) Eur J Radiol 69(3):438–444
Migaleddu V, Scanu AM, Quaia E, et al. (2009) Gastroenterology 137(1):43–52
Migaleddu V, Quaia E, Scano D, Virgilio G (2008) Inflammatory activity in Crohn disease: ultrasound findings. Abdom Imaging 33(5):589–597
Girlich C, Jung EM, Iesalnieks I, et al. (2009) Quantitative assessment of bowel wall vascularisation in Crohn’s disease with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and perfusion analysis. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc 43(1):141–148
Adler J, Punglia D, Dillman JR, et al. (2008) CT enterography findings correlate with tissue inflammation but not fibrosis in resected small bowel Crohn’s disease. Gastroenterology 134:A195
Kim K, Johnson LA, Jia C, et al. (2008) Noninvasive ultrasound elasticity imaging (UEI) of Crohn’s disease: animal model. Ultrasound Med Biol 34:902–912
Adler J, Stidham RW, Higgins PDR (2009) Bringing the inflamed and fibrotic bowel into focus: imaging in inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterol Hepatol 5(10)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Migaleddu, V., Quaia, E., Scanu, D. et al. Inflammatory activity in Crohn’s disease: CE-US. Abdom Imaging 36, 142–148 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-010-9622-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-010-9622-8