Imaging in Small Bowel

**9**

**Chapter 2**

**Abstract**

Crohn's Disease

monitor patients with this disease.

disease, magnetic resonance imaging

**1. Introduction**

development [4].

the anus [5].

Role of Imaging in Small Bowel

The small intestine is a challenging organ for clinical and radiological evaluation. The introduction of radiological imaging techniques, which do not significantly disturb patients' comfort and safety, attempts to obtain an adequate diagnosis and valuable information. The aim is to determine the capabilities and potential of ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) enterography to establish the diagnosis and to evaluate the severity and activity of intestinal inflammation. Conventional ultrasound is a suitable orientation method in the initial evaluation of patients with Crohn's disease. At the same time, contrast-enhanced MR enterography provides an excellent assessment of disease activity, as well as the complications that accompany it. Contrast-enhanced MR enterography, combined with DWI, allows for excellent evaluation of disease activity and problems or difficulties following it. The examination can be repeated, controlled and can

**Keywords:** ultrasound, computed tomography, diffusion, inflammatory bowel

Crohn's disease or enteritis regionalis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract, predominantly of the small intestine. It is the most common small bowel disease in the United States and Europe: (3.1–14.6/100,000 in the United States and 0.7–9.8/100,000 in Europe, respectively) [1]. It occurs more frequently in the White population than in African-American and Asian ones, and is particularly common in certain ethnic groups [2]. The disease is equally present in both

sexes and most often occurs between twenty and forty years of age [3].

Research into the epidemiology of IBD in areas with a sharply increased incidence may discover important etiological factors associated with the disease

Although the process most commonly affects the terminal ileum (60–80% of cases), the disease can occur in any part of the digestive tract, from the mouth to

Crohn's disease is a disease of segmental nature, in which healthy parts of the intestine are located between the affected ones. The inflammatory process spreads to all layers of the wall and affects the mesentery and local lymph glands [5, 6]. Many patients have lesions on the terminal ileum and the colon; in many cases, it is challenging to distinguish Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis by differential

*Bilal Imširović, Enver Zerem and Emir Gušo*
