title: 18F-FDG positron emission tomography: potential utility in the assessment of Crohn's disease.
abstract: Computed Tomography Enterography (CTE) and Magnetic Resonance Enterography (MRE) are currently the dominant imaging tests used in the assessment of patients with Crohn's disease. More recently, the possibility of utilizing F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) or PET/CT has been explored in several preliminary studies. 18F-FDG PET appears to enable reliable detection of moderate to severe inflammation in bowel segments involved by Crohn's disease. Perhaps more importantly, 18F-FDG PET has the potential to provide a noninvasive, quantitative measure of inflammation that dynamically reflects changes in Crohn's disease activity. If 18F-FDG PET proves useful in monitoring responses to medical therapy within a few days of therapy initiation, an important new role for imaging in the management of patients with Crohn's disease could emerge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Abdominal Imaging and Intervention, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. pshyn@partners.org
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Shyn
mesh_terms: D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18