Imaging Technology Might Help Doctors Determine Best Treatment for Crohn's Disease PatientsIt's difficult for doctors to tell whether a patient with Crohn's disease has intestinal fibrosis, which requires surgery, or inflammation, which can be treated with medicine. A new imaging method might make that task easier, according to a U-M-led study.
Ultrasound elasticity imaging, or UEI, could allow doctors to noninvasively make the distinction between inflammation and fibrosis, allowing patients to receive more appropriate and timely care. The study was published in the September edition of Gastroenterology.
Crohn's disease patients suffer from chronic inflammation of the intestines, which over time can cause scar tissue to form, resulting in intestinal fibrosis.
Patients with intestinal inflammation usually are treated with medicines that suppress their immune system, while patients with fibrosis are treated surgically. Because current diagnostic tests, including CT scans and MRIs, cannot detect the difference between the two conditions, many patients with fibrosis are often initially treated with immune system-suppressing drugs, which are expensive and are unlikely to help.[...]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111014142615.htm================================================
Good news! I guess it's going to take a while before this equipment is available in hospitals, but anything that can replace invasive tests with non-invasive tests gets my seal of approval. Not only it is more comfortable, but it is also safer!
[*I just activated the hyperlink. This one was definitely worth reading - C2]
Post Edited By Moderator (CrohnieToo) : 11/15/2011 10:16:42 AM (GMT-7)