Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition

The Korean Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (대한소아소화기영양학회)
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The Utility of Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound and Elastography in the Early Detection of Fibro-Stenotic Ileal Strictures in Children with Crohn's Disease

  • Sarah D. Sidhu (Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition of Florida, Tampa General Hospital) ;
  • Shelly Joseph (Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) ;
  • Emily Dunn (Department of Pediatric Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital) ;
  • Carmen Cuffari (Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children's National Hospital)
  • Received : 2022.11.12
  • Accepted : 2023.06.13
  • Published : 2023.07.15
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Abstract

Purpose: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, idiopathic bowel disorder that can progress to partial or complete bowel obstruction. At present, there are no reliable diagnostic tests that can readily distinguish between acute inflammatory, purely fibrotic and mixed inflammatory and fibrotic. Our aim is to study the utility of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in combination with shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate fibrotic from inflammatory strictures in children with obstructive CD of the terminal ileum. Methods: Twenty-five (19 male) children between 2016-2021 with CD of the terminal ileum were recruited into the study. Among these patients, 22 had CEUS kinetic measurements of tissue perfusion, including wash-in slope (dB/sec), peak intensity (dB), time to peak intensity (sec), area under the curve (AUC) (dB sec), and SWE. In total, 11 patients required surgery due to bowel obstruction. Histopathologic analysis was performed by a pathologist who was blinded to the CEUS and SWE test results. Results: Patients that underwent surgical resection had significantly higher mean area under the curve on CEUS compared to patients responsive to medical therapy (p=0.03). The AUC also correlated with the degree of hypertrophy and the percent fibrosis of the muscularis propria, as determined by histopathologic grading (p<0.01). There was no difference in the mean elastography measurements between these two patient groups. Conclusion: CEUS is a useful radiological technique that can help identify pediatric patients with medically refractory obstructive fibrotic strictures of the terminal ileum that should be considered for early surgical resection.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Johns Hopkins Institutional Training Grant for Pediatricians, funded by NICHD.

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