Intestinal imaging of children with acute rotavirus gastroenteritis.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the morphology and motility of the distal small bowel of infants with rotavirus gastroenteritis using non-invasive/non-ionizing imaging technology.


METHODS
Prospective, non-randomized observational study of five infants with symptomatic rotavirus infection. Infants were imaged by real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound within 5 days of onset of gastroenteritis symptoms. Imaging studies were repeated in the convalescent period 5 to 9 weeks later.


RESULTS
Three of five infants had a significant increase in the ileal wall thickness visualized by ultrasound during acute rotavirus infection compared with convalescence. The number and size of mesenteric lymph nodes visualized by ultrasound appeared similar in the acute and convalescent phases, as did peristaltic activity assessed by MRI.


CONCLUSIONS
Abdominal ultrasound can detect changes in ileal wall thickness in infants with rotavirus infection. These changes may reflect ileal inflammation elicited by viral infection. Such studies may prove useful in evaluating morphologic response to attenuated rotavirus vaccines.
Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. dorseybass@hotmail.com
Dorsey
D
Bass
Eileen
E
Cordoba
Cornelia
C
Dekker
Anne
A
Schuind
Christopher
C
Cassady
D000208:Acute Disease; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007082:Ileum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography