Relative efficacy of different MRI signs in diagnosing active XXXX , compared against a histological gold standard.

@entity1 @entity4 @entity1283 @entity1347 @entity292 @entity2287 @entity30 @entity3137
INTRODUCTION: There has been growing interest in the use of MRI in assessing @entity30 because of its lack of ionising radiation. Many MRI signs have been described in the literature, but their relative utility is unknown. METHODS: The MRIs of the bowel performed at 1.5 Tesla were blindly reviewed on 26 @entity1 with recent histology (surgery and/or colonoscopy and their associated reports) according to a dedicated pro forma. Each @entity1 's bowel was divided into nine segments. Each segment was assessed as to the presence or absence of 15 MRI signs described in the literature: abnormal @entity2287 enhancement (both subjective and objective), wall @entity4 , fat @entity4 , fat proliferation, @entity1283 , free fluid, wall nodularity, serosal blurring, mural thickening >4 mm, stricture, @entity1347 , @entity292 , abscess and layered contrast enhancement. The results were compared against a histological gold standard with a six-point scale of disease severity. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: MRI correctly identified all 15 @entity1 with at least established @entity3137 , and three of eight with only mild @entity3137 . Combining these results, a positive MRI correlated highly with at least early @entity3137 (positive predictive value 95%), while the presence of established @entity3137 was unlikely if MRI was negative (negative predictive value 100%). The MRI signs found to be the most sensitive for detecting active @entity30 were those related to the bowel wall, namely, wall thickening, nodularity, contrast enhancement and @entity4 . The most specific signs were the presence of @entity1347 , layered contrast enhancement and complications ( @entity292 and abscess).
