Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;40(1):19-28.
doi: 10.1007/s11604-021-01177-7. Epub 2021 Jul 25.

Mimicking conditions of intestinal Crohn's disease: magnetic resonance enterography findings

Giuseppe Cicero  1 , Alfredo Blandino  2 , Tommaso D'Angelo  2 , Christian Booz  3 , Thomas J Vogl  3 , Giorgio Ascenti  2 , Silvio Mazziotti  2
Affiliations

Mimicking conditions of intestinal Crohn's disease: magnetic resonance enterography findings

Giuseppe Cicero et al. Jpn J Radiol. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by a transmural involvement of intestinal walls. Its diagnosis comes from a combination of clinical data, imaging findings and, above all, endoscopy with biopsy results, which are mandatory for achieving a definitive diagnosis. Even so, endoscopy information may be unavailable, for instance due to technical impairments or patient intolerance. On the radiological side, Magnetic Resonance Enterography is currently considered the imaging technique of choice for Crohn's disease assessment, either at first diagnosis or follow-up. Nevertheless, the lack of radiation exposure as well as invasiveness has made this imaging approach suitable also for the evaluation of a number of small and large bowel diseases over recent years. However, it is important to remember that Magnetic Resonance Imaging findings are non-specific and that a wide overlap exists among Crohn's disease and other intestinal conditions. The aim of this work was to provide a series of intestinal affections evaluated through Magnetic Resonance Enterography that resemble Crohn's disease and that can be helpful in avoiding misinterpretation, especially when endoscopy data are missing.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Intestinal inflammation; Intestinal neoplasms; Magnetic Resonance Enterography.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Feuerstein JD, Cheifetz AS. Crohn disease: epidemiology, diagnosis, and management. Mayo Clin Proc. 2017;92(7):1088–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2017.04.010 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cicero G, Mazziotti S. Crohn’s disease at radiological imaging: focus on techniques and intestinal tract. Intest Res. 2020. https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2020.00097 . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Cicero G, Ascenti G, Bottari A, Catanzariti F, Blandino A, Mazziotti S. MR enterography: what is next after Crohn’s disease? Jpn J Radiol. 2019;37(7):511–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-019-00838-y . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cicero G, Mondello S, Wichmann JL, Albrecht MH, Vogl TJ, Cavallaro M, Frosina L, D’Angelo T, Mazziotti S. Fast magnetic resonance enterography protocol for the evaluation of patients with Crohn’s disease: a pilot study. J Clin Imaging Sci. 2020;10:25. https://doi.org/10.25259/JCIS_18_2020 . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Bruining DH, Zimmermann EM, Loftus EV Jr, Sandborn WJ, Sauer CG, Strong SA, Society of Abdominal Radiology Crohn’s Disease-Focused Panel. Consensus recommendations for evaluation, interpretation, and utilization of computed tomography and magnetic resonance enterography in patients with small bowel Crohn’s disease. Radiology. 2018;286(3):776–99. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2018171737 . - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources