Role of MRI in Crohn's disease

Sinha, R.; Murphy, P.; Hawker, P.; Sanders, S.; Rajesh, A.; Verma, R.

doi:10.1016/j.crad.2008.08.006

« Previous Next »Clinical Radiology
Volume 64, Issue 4 , Pages 341-352, April 2009

Role of MRI in Crohn's disease

R. Sinha
- Department of Radiology, GI Unit, South Warwickshire NHS Trust, & IBD Network, Coventry & South Warwickshire, United Kingdom
- Guarantor and correspondent: R. Sinha, Department of Clinical Radiology, Warwick Hospital, Lakin Road, Warwick CV34 5BW, UK. Tel.: +01-92-649-5321; fax: +01-92-648-2612.
P. Murphy
- Department of Surgery, GI Unit, South Warwickshire NHS Trust, & IBD Network, Coventry & South Warwickshire, United Kingdom
P. Hawker
- Department of Gastroenterology, GI Unit, South Warwickshire NHS Trust, & IBD Network, Coventry & South Warwickshire, United Kingdom
S. Sanders
- Department of Pathology, GI Unit, South Warwickshire NHS Trust & IBD Network, Coventry & South Warwickshire, United Kingdom
A. Rajesh
- Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, UK
R. Verma
- Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Received 7 July 2008; received in revised form 18 August 2008; accepted 20 August 2008.

The traditional imaging of Crohn's disease has relied on barium and computed tomography (CT) examinations. In recent years magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as an imaging method that can be used in the diagnosis and assessment of Crohn's disease. The advantages of MRI include lack of ionizing radiation and its superior tissue contrast resolution. The clinical progression of Crohn's disease can be variable, and MRI can be used to assess inflammatory status, disease progression, and complications of Crohn's disease. MRI of the small bowel is an evolving technique and it has the potential to become the preferred technique for imaging of small bowel Crohn's disease in the future.