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Crohn’s Disease: The Small Bowel Meal and Pneumocolon

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Abdominal Imaging

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Abstract

Crohn’s disease is an idiopathic inflammatory condition of the bowel. It can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract. The disease is characterized by discontinuous ulcerations that tend to be longitudinal and transverse in orientation. This results in a cobblestone appearance of the mucosa. The earliest macroscopic findings are tiny aphthous ulcers or erosions. These lead to deeper irregular ulcers, strictures, and fistulae. The course of the disease can be influenced to a certain extent by early diagnosis. As Crohn’s disease was first recognized in the small bowel, a barium examination was developed to facilitate the diagnosis. The majority of the patients have disease in the distal ileum. Only about 5% have the disease proximal to the distal ileum. Therefore, for any study to make an early diagnosis, it has to optimally image the distal ileum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, McMaster University Medical Centre, 73 Rockcliffe Road, Dundas, L9H 7H5, ON, Canada

    Dr. Sat Somers M.B.Ch.B. (Sheffield), FRCPC, FFRRCSI (Hon.) (Professor)

  2. Department of Radiology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK

    Alan H. Freeman MBBS, FRCR (Consultant Radiologist)

Authors
  1. Dr. Sat Somers M.B.Ch.B. (Sheffield), FRCPC, FFRRCSI (Hon.)
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  2. Alan H. Freeman MBBS, FRCR
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sat Somers M.B.Ch.B. (Sheffield), FRCPC, FFRRCSI (Hon.) .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Bernd Hamm

  2. Department of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Pablo R. Ros

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Somers, S., Freeman, A.H. (2013). Crohn’s Disease: The Small Bowel Meal and Pneumocolon. In: Hamm, B., Ros, P.R. (eds) Abdominal Imaging. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13327-5_220

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13327-5_220

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13326-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-13327-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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