CT beats fluoroscopy for Crohn's disease anomalies

CT can outperform fluoro-based enteroclysis, the current imaging standard for small bowel evaluation in patients with Crohn's disease, according to a study in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The big advantage of CT enteroclysis is its ability to detect complications that exist outside normal parameters of the diagnosis and identification of Crohn's disease, according to principal investigator Dr. Johannes Sailer, a radiologist at the Medical University of Vienna.

Researchers evaluated with both techniques 50 symptomatic patients. Results were matched with surgery and follow-up (AJR 2005;185;1575-1581). CT enteroclysis proved better than conventional enteroclysis at detecting fistulae, abscesses, and conglomeration of small bowel loops. CT enteroclysis also proved equivalent to standard imaging in the detection of minimal mucosal changes.