PET/CT in the evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease: studies in patients before and after treatment.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriate 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) determination in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) before and after clinical improvement to see if this determination correlates with clinical activity.


METHODS
We performed PET-computed tomography (PET/CT) on five patients before and after successful medical therapy in patients with moderately active IBD. Each patient had five bowel segments scored (0-3) for the appropriate FDG-PET determination.


RESULTS
There were five patients [Crohn's disease (CD) = 3, ulcerative colitis = 2] who were studied an average of 437 days (range, 77-807) after initial PET/CT scan. All patients showed significant improvement in physician global assessment scores (p = 0.004) and underwent repeat PET/CT. The total score of all segments was 32 pretreatment and 14 posttreatment (p < 0.01). Of 11 pretreatment active segments, nine (82%) segments either became inactive or displayed decreased activity, while two showed no change (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Appropriate FDG-PET determination decreases with successful treatment of inflammation in active IBD and correlates with symptom improvement.
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Bret J
BJ
Spier
Scott B
SB
Perlman
Christine J
CJ
Jaskowiak
Mark
M
Reichelderfer
D000328:Adult; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18