title: Detection of liver involvement in inflammatory bowel disease by abdominal ultrasound scan.
abstract: Fifty patients with ulcerative colitis, 24 with Crohn's disease, and 50 controls were studied by liver function tests and abdominal ultrasound scan. Twenty-two percent of ulcerative colitis patients, 29% of Crohn's disease patients, and none of the controls showed abnormal liver function tests. All subjects with abnormal liver function tests also had changes in ultrasound liver scan, consisting of hepatomegaly and/or a dysechoic liver echo pattern. Furthermore, the same ultrasound changes were observed, in the absence of any liver function test abnormalities, in 58% of ulcerative colitis patients, 50% of Crohn's disease patients and 6% of controls (P less than 0.0005, inflammatory bowel disease versus controls). Overall, some evidence of liver involvement, as judged by abnormal liver tests and/or abnormal ultrasound liver scan, was detected in about 80% of inflammatory bowel disease patients. Six patients with minor abnormalities of liver function tests underwent liver biopsy and 5 of them had pericholangitis. Ultrasound liver scan may provide a useful tool to evaluate the occurrence of liver involvement in inflammatory bowel disease patients.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Interna, Universitá di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Fazio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Torgano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Franchis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meucci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arrigoni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vecchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002761:Cholangitis / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000150:complications*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014463:Ultrasonography