A 2007 study by University of Michigan gastroenterologist Dr. Peter D.R. Higgins showcases the diagnostic power of CT enterography (CTE) for evaluating small bowel Crohn's disease.
Higgins concluded that CTE offered complementary information about symptoms of obstruction in Crohn's disease (Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, March 2007; Vol. 14:3, pp. 262-268).
The following images from Higgins' study illustrate some of the clinically relevant findings about Crohn's disease that can be made with CTE.
','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >Extraluminal fluid, recognized by extraluminal fluid (outside the bowel loops) surrounded by an irregular wall and mesenteric stranding. Image provided by PDR Higgins; reprinted with permission of Wiley Interscience.','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >
','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >Extraluminal gas, recognized by very low-density foci outside the bowel loops (gas is lower density than fluid). Image provided by PDR Higgins; reprinted with permission of Wiley Interscience.','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >
','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >Lymph node enlargement. Lymph node enlargement, recognized by the abnormal soft-tissue masses, measuring at least 1 cm, in the mesentery. Image provided by PDR Higgins; reprinted with permission of Wiley Interscience.','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >
','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >Bowel fat, recognized by crescentic low attenuation in the bowel wall, indicating fat (unlike mesenteric fat, this finding is adjacent to the bowel mucosa and is confined to the bowel wall). Image provided by PDR Higgins; reprinted with permission of Wiley Interscience.','dvPres', 'clsTopBtn', 'true' );" >
