In-vivo Axial-strain Sonoelastography Helps Distinguish Acutely-inflamed from Fibrotic Terminal Ileum Strictures in Patients with Crohn's Disease: Preliminary Results

We tested real-time sonoelastography (RTS) in-vivo to differentiate fibrotic from inflammatory terminal ileum strictures in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), using magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) as a reference standard. Sixteen patients (13 male, 3 female; median [interquartile interval] age = 41 [31-48.5] y; median C-reactive protein (CRP) = 0.95 [0-2.23] mg/dL; median disease duration = 108.5 [35-213.75] mo; median Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) = 3 [3-5.25]) with terminal ileum CD were prospectively included. Short-axis scans were performed; each cross-section was ideally sub-divided into eight circular sectors. Color map provided by RTS was translated into semi-quantitative scale (1 = red; 2 = green; 3 = blue). At MRE, inflammation was seen in nine patients and fibrosis in seven. Total median RTS score was significantly lower in patients with inflammatory stricture (16 [16-18]) than in patients with fibrosis (20 [17.5-22]; p = 0.003). The same happened when the four most superficial quadrants of the loop were considered (8 [7-9] vs. 10 [9-11.5]; p = 0.003). No significant correlation was seen between RTS and HBI (r = 0.467; p = 0.686), RTS and CRP (r = −0.750; p = 0.567) or RTS and disease duration (r = 0.238; p = 0.483). RTS of the terminal ileum in patients with CD is feasible in-vivo, potentially differentiating between fibrotic and inflammatory strictures.