Tests and monitoring tools
Imaging articles covering ultrasound, MRI, CT, and other methods used to study or monitor Crohn's disease and IBD. Monitoring context emphasizes diagnosis, follow-up, disease activity, treatment response, and care decisions.
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Perianal fistulas are a common and morbid complication of Crohn's disease in children; a reliable, less burdensome imaging tool could help assess severity and monitor response to therapy more often than MRI.
Capsule endoscopy can safely help diagnose small-bowel disease in very young children, including cases of suspected IBD, and may be particularly helpful when blood tests or imaging suggest inflammation or low albumin....
A new chemiluminescent probe may help researchers detect and visualize peroxynitrite, a reactive species linked to inflammation in ulcerative colitis, which could aid research into disease mechanisms and early detection...
This study suggests brain glymphatic function — a fluid-clearance system — may be altered in people with Crohn’s disease and could relate to inflammation and common neuropsychiatric symptoms like fatigue, anxiety,...
Intestinal ultrasound is increasingly used to evaluate Crohn’s disease because it’s noninvasive, repeatable, and can detect activity and some complications—potentially reducing reliance on more invasive tests. Wider...
If confirmed, a brain perivascular/glymphatic change linked to intestinal inflammation could help explain why sleep problems are common in Crohn's disease and point to new research targets for symptom mechanisms and...
The probe targets azoreductase-driven hypoxia, a mechanism linked to ulcerative colitis and other hypoxia-associated diseases; a reliable real-time imaging method could help research and eventually guide treatments.
Dysplasia is the key premalignant change that raises colorectal cancer risk in people with colonic IBD. Better detection and clearer management pathways can reduce cancer risk and help patients avoid unnecessary surgery.
Imaging can reveal characteristic bowel and vascular patterns that help distinguish Crohn's, UC, celiac disease, and systemic autoimmune or vasculitic causes of GI symptoms, which may speed diagnosis and detect dangerous...
Predicting who will respond to anti-TNF drugs could help avoid ineffective treatments, reduce delays to effective therapy, and personalize care for children with Crohn's disease.
This is relevant because a treatable infection (intestinal tuberculosis) can present like colorectal cancer or IBD and lead to emergency surgery. Recognizing it earlier could change management and avoid unnecessary...
Bowel wall vascularization on ultrasound is used to gauge transmural inflammation in Crohn’s disease. This study examines whether quantitative measures could make those assessments more objective and how technique and...
Patients and clinicians may care because the study suggests contrast-enhanced CT can reliably detect and localize IBD, including transmural and small-bowel disease that biopsies miss, which could affect diagnostic...
Patients with Crohn's who develop intra-abdominal abscesses often face decisions about antibiotics, drainage, or surgery. Predictors like abscess size and imaging appearance may help estimate the chance of needing...
Sarcopenia or low muscle mass may be linked with worse endoscopic healing and reduced durability of biologic therapy in IBD, particularly Crohn's disease, which could matter for prognosis and treatment planning if...
Better automated segmentation of inflammatory lesions could make colonoscopy assessments more objective and consistent, which matters for monitoring IBD activity and for clinical trials that rely on endoscopic endpoints.
Most people with IBD can have children safely with modern treatments and planning; uncontrolled disease poses greater risks to pregnancy than continuing most IBD medications. Planning and specialist input before...
CVID can cause GI problems that closely mimic Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or celiac disease and may change diagnostic and treatment choices. Gastroenterologists need to consider CVID when IBD presentations are...
This paper suggests that epithelial barrier structure and function may be altered in very early onset pediatric IBD. That could help researchers study disease mechanisms and eventually guide targeted therapies for...
Dual-energy CT quantification of creeping fat could offer a measurable imaging biomarker that reflects transmural inflammation and fibrosis in Crohn’s disease, potentially improving monitoring beyond mucosal healing.
FAP appears linked to both inflammation and fibrosis in IBD; distinguishing cellular versus extracellular FAP might help develop or validate fibrosis biomarkers that detect fibrostenotic disease.
SpA is a frequent but underrecognized extraintestinal manifestation in people with IBD; validated screening tools can help identify patients who need rheumatology evaluation. Earlier detection may address joint symptoms...
Older adults with ulcerative colitis can rarely develop large-vessel giant cell arteritis as an extraintestinal complication.
IBD may involve small-vessel changes beyond the gut. If reproducible, retinal microvascular alterations detectable by OCTA could offer a non-invasive window into systemic microvascular involvement in IBD.
People on biologic therapy who are not responding to standard doses may benefit from dose escalation — this study suggests escalation is common in routine care and linked with improved objective and patient‑reported...
People with IBD and their clinicians often rely on MRI for monitoring disease; knowing that MRI techniques can also detect other bowel problems helps explain imaging choices and what radiologists may be looking for when...
Elevated pancreatic enzymes are relatively common in IBD and can reflect very different conditions (benign asymptomatic elevations, pancreatitis variants, or autoimmune pancreatitis). Recognizing phenotype-specific...
Anorectal stricture is a disabling Crohn’s complication that often requires surgery; a validated QoL threshold could help identify who should be prioritised for surgical review. This may make shared decision-making and...
This report shows intestinal tuberculosis can present like inflammatory bowel disease with lower GI bleeding, leading to diagnostic delay; correct identification allowed targeted anti-TB and HIV therapy and clinical...
Automated, sequence-robust MRI measures could help standardize detection and localization of perianal anoperineal lesions in Crohn’s disease, which is relevant for diagnosis and management of perianal complications.
CMUSE can closely mimic Crohn's disease and may require surgery for diagnosis and symptom relief. Recognizing it can change diagnostic pathways and multidisciplinary management for people with recurrent small-bowel...
The study describes a new urine-based fluorescent biosensor that detected inflamed intestinal sites and tracked treatment response earlier and more sensitively than fecal calprotectin in a mouse model of IBD, which could...
If therapies that restore intestinal barrier function can be reliably tested and measured, future treatments might be developed that specifically target barrier healing — a mechanism linked to symptom relief and possibly...
New PET tracers like FAPI could better detect fibrosis and stromal activity than standard FDG-PET, which may improve imaging of fibrostenotic Crohn's disease. For people with IBD, improved imaging might eventually help...
Point-of-care intestinal ultrasound (IUS) showed strong agreement with follow-up tests and often changed management the same day in a New Zealand IBD cohort. Patients and clinicians may be able to use IUS to monitor...
New or improved fluorescent probes could enable more sensitive, noninvasive imaging of biochemical changes in the gut, which may aid research, earlier diagnosis, or monitoring of IBD and colorectal cancer.
A new NIR-II-emitting MOF probe could enable deeper, higher-contrast fluorescence imaging of inflamed gut tissue and might be developed as a targeted delivery/imaging agent relevant to IBD research and future...
A coordinated national research network can accelerate studies that matter to people with IBD—like tracking real-world disease patterns, testing diet and psychosocial approaches, improving monitoring with biomarkers and...
Nanoparticle technologies could eventually enable more targeted drug delivery and improved imaging for IBD and related GI diseases, which may lead to better diagnosis and less systemic side effects. However, translation...
People with Crohn’s disease can have liver involvement that may be missed on routine exams. Quantitative liver MRI measures (fat fraction and extracellular volume) could help detect and monitor subtle liver injury...
People with IBD who also have bleeding disorders face special risks during endoscopy, surgery, and when using immunosuppressive drugs. This case shows that coordinated care and hemostatic support can allow diagnosis and...
Endometriosis involving the intestine can mimic Crohn’s disease symptoms and lead to misdiagnosis or delayed correct treatment. Patients with IBD-like symptoms who are of reproductive age may need evaluation for bowel...
This project studies a novel enzyme target (GCPII) that is reportedly upregulated in IBD and may change glutamate signaling and barrier function; understanding it could point to new treatment strategies for people whose...
Colorectal lymphoma in children can mimic IBD flares or cause surgical emergencies; recognizing this can prevent inappropriate escalation of immunosuppression and speed correct diagnosis and treatment.
This study reports real-world data on mirikizumab in adults with ulcerative colitis, focusing on clinical and endoscopic remission and inflammatory markers — outcomes patients and clinicians use to judge treatment...
The episode clarifies key differences between Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, outlines common symptoms that should prompt medical evaluation, and reviews monitoring and complication risks that affect long‑term care.
Fatigue is a common, burdensome symptom in Crohn's disease and hard to treat. This study links fatigue severity to differences in brain resting-state connectivity, suggesting brain–gut interactions may play a role.
Patients with IBD or new symptoms should understand that Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can look very similar but affect different parts of the gut and may require different treatments. Accurate diagnosis matters...
