title: Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and small bowel pathology: comparison between wireless capsule endoscopy and multidetector-row CT enteroclysis.
abstract: Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is defined as bleeding of unknown origin, that persists or recurs after negative conventional barium contrast studies and upper and lower tract endoscopy. The causes of such a bleeding frequently arise in the small bowel, and they are represented by mucosal vascular abnormalities, neoplasms and other conditions such as Crohn's disease, Meckel's diverticulum, and vasculitis. Conventional barium contrast studies and push enteroscopy allow only a limited small bowel examination; moreover, intraoperative endoscopy may be inconclusive, since the small bowel is difficult to evaluate given its length and tortuous course. In the same way, angiographic diagnosis is stricktly related to the activity rate of hemorrhage. Wireless capsule endoscopy and multidetector-row CT enteroclysis are two recently developed minimally invasive techniques that may provide a complete small bowel examination, the first offering a direct visualization of the mucosal aspect, the second allowing evaluation of mural and extramural pathologies. This review is an update of the technique and clinical application of capsule endoscopy and multidetector-row CT enteroclysis in patients suffering from obscure small bowel bleeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Bioimages, Section of Radiological Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti, Via dei Vestini, n.5, 66013, Chieti, Italy. a.filippone@rad.unich.it
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filippone
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cianci
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milano
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valeriano
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Mizio
authors.forename: Maria Luigia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Storto
mesh_terms: D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*