title: Evaluation of inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
abstract: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis evolve with a relapsing and remitting course. Determination of inflammatory state is crucial for the assessment of disease activity and for tailoring therapy. However, no simple diagnostic test for monitoring intestinal inflammation is available. Noninvasive markers give only indirect assessments of disease activity. Histopathological or endoscopical examinations accurately assess inflammatory activity, but they are invasive, time consuming and expensive and therefore are unsuitable for routine use. Imaging procedures are not applicable for ulcerative colitis. The usefulness of ultrasound and Doppler imaging in assessing disease activity is still a matter of discussion for Crohn's disease, and an increased interest in computed tomography enterograph (CTE) has been seen, mainly because it can delineate the extent and severity of bowel wall inflammation, besides detecting extraluminal findings. Until now, the available data concerning the accuracy of magnetic resonance enterography in detecting disease activity is less than CTE. Due to this, clinical activity indices are still commonly used for both diseases.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil. evilela@medicina.ufmg.br
authors.forename: Eduardo Garcia
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Vilela
authors.forename: Henrique Osvaldo da Gama
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Fabiana Paiva
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Maria de Lourdes de Abreu
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Marcella Menezes
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Aloísio Sales da
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Cunha
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007422:Intestines / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers