Real-time elastography in Crohn’s disease: feasibility in dailyclinical practice

摘要

Ultrasound (US) is the first-line investigation inpatients with abdominal symptoms and it has a role in thediagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory bowel diseases.Strain elastography (SE) is a US method for estimatingtissue elasticity. This method is still not routinely used inclinical practice, although it is suggested by the EFSUMBGuidelines for the characterization of intestinal stenosis inCrohn’s disease. The purpose of this Pictorial Essay is toconfirm the feasibility of elastography in Crohn’s diseasein clinical practice by comparing elastography images withcorresponding endoscopic or radiological images. At present,diagnostic accuracy of SE is reported in the literatureonly in connection with detection of bowel wall fibrosis inadvanced cases of Crohn’s disease. However, in ouropinion, SE can add useful diagnostic information tograyscale and color Doppler US by providing a moreaccurate characterization of the bowel wall in the variousmanifestations of Crohn’s disease.