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.
Spier
Bret J
BJ
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Perlman
Scott B
SB
Jaskowiak
Christine J
CJ
Reichelderfer
Mark
M
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