Modern Endoscopy and Radiology in the Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Over the last decade, novel imaging techniques have emerged in the diagnosis, follow-up, and management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Both wireless capsule endoscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy were introduced almost one decade ago and emerged as the important diagnostic tools for the evaluation of patients with small intestinal pathology including Crohn's disease. Radiologic imaging, especially of the small bowel, plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of patients with IBD. Both CT and MRI can depict segmental thickening, extraluminal lesions, and complications. A significant disadvantage of CT and its derivatization (such as CT enterography or CT enteroclysis) is their radiation. The advantages of MRI over CT include a lack of ionizing radiation, safe in pregnancy and in renal failure. Nuclear medicine procedures, such as SPECT and positron emission tomography alone or with CT have been shown to be of value in the diagnosis of IBD, particularly in assessing patients with inflammatory processes. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel