The high frequency of intestinal strictures in patients with Crohn's disease and the different treatment approaches specific for each type of stenosis make the differentiation between fibrotic and inflammatory strictures crucial in management of the disease. However, there is no standardized approach to evaluate and discriminate intestinal strictures, and until now, there was no established cross-sectional imaging modality to detect fibrosis. New techniques, such as contrast-enhanced ultrasound and sonoelastography allow the assessment of vascularization and mechanical properties of stenotic bowel tissue, respectively. These techniques have shown great potential to characterize strictures in Crohn's disease. The aim of this review is to sum up the current knowledge on bowel ultrasound tools to discriminate inflammatory from fibrotic stenosis in Crohn's disease considering the most recent published studies in the field.

Bowel thickening in Crohn's disease : fibrosis or inflammation? : diagnostic ultrasound imaging tools / R. Coelho, H. Ribeiro, G. Maconi. - In: INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES. - ISSN 1078-0998. - 23:1(2017), pp. 23-34.

Bowel thickening in Crohn's disease : fibrosis or inflammation? : diagnostic ultrasound imaging tools

G. Maconi
2017

Abstract

The high frequency of intestinal strictures in patients with Crohn's disease and the different treatment approaches specific for each type of stenosis make the differentiation between fibrotic and inflammatory strictures crucial in management of the disease. However, there is no standardized approach to evaluate and discriminate intestinal strictures, and until now, there was no established cross-sectional imaging modality to detect fibrosis. New techniques, such as contrast-enhanced ultrasound and sonoelastography allow the assessment of vascularization and mechanical properties of stenotic bowel tissue, respectively. These techniques have shown great potential to characterize strictures in Crohn's disease. The aim of this review is to sum up the current knowledge on bowel ultrasound tools to discriminate inflammatory from fibrotic stenosis in Crohn's disease considering the most recent published studies in the field.
bowel ultrasound; Crohn's disease; strictures; fibrotic; inflammatory; color and power Doppler ultrasonography; contrast-enhanced ultrasound; sonoelastography
Settore MED/12 - Gastroenterologia
2017
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/515603
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