Transabdominal ultrasound (US) examination is widely used as a first-line test in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD), particularly to detect terminal ileum involvement and abscesses. This noninvasive, accurate and ionizing radiation-free technique can be easily repeated and is relatively inexpensive. More recently, disease inflammation assessment was possible due to the introduction of second generation intravenous contrast agents in combination with low mechanical index harmonic US. To date, however, results from studies using contrast-enhanced US (CE-US) have been inconsistent.
展开▼
