ROLE OF MULTISLICE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN EVALUATION OF BOWEL DISEASES

Abstract

The development of MSCT, as regarding the thinner collimation, the faster scanning and the high resolution imaging of the whole abdomen in one breath hold hindering motion artifacts, has expanded the role of MSCT in the imaging of the small and the large bowel. With this acquisition method, a whole abdominal volume can be obtained instead of only single slices as with former CT units.

The aim of our study was to highlight the role of MSCT in the diagnosis of bowel diseases whether small or large bowel, acute or chronic diseases as a primary investigating tool or a follow up investigating tool for a known bowel disease.

This study was conducted on 30 patients complaining of symptoms suggestive of small and/or large bowel disease were referred for abdominal or abdominopelvic MSCT. We tailored the technique of the MSCT according to the clinical picture of these patients. The referring physicians specifically requested MSCT colonography and MSCT enterography for some of the patients.

All patients were subjected to clinical history and examination, MSCT of the abdomen or abdominopelvic region were done using different MSCT scanners (Philips 4, Siemens 16 and Siemens 64 dual energy at the radiology departments of Ain shams specialized hospital and Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In some of these patients, conventional colonoscopy and/or biopsy whether colonoscopy guided, enteroscopy guided or CT guided, confirmatory lab (blood culture, stool culture and serology tests) and other radiological modalities (barium enema or small bowel follow through study) were performed. Correlation of the imaging findings with those of surgery was done in some of the cases who underwent surgery.