title: The clinical importance of "bamboo joint-like appearance" on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for the diagnosis of Crohn's disease.
abstract: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) lesions are frequently reported in Crohn's disease, in which the entire GI tract is affected. In these cases, erosive fissures regularly transversing folds that are longitudinally aligned along the lesser curvature of the gastric body and cardia are described as having a "bamboo joint-like appearance". We designed a blinded experiment in which upper GI imaging without a final diagnosis was checked by three observers to determine the usefulness of the bamboo joint-like appearance in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. For the three observers, sensitivities of appearance were 30.5%, 56.9%, and 51.4%, while specificities were 99.6%, 98.5%, and 99.3%. Thus, the bamboo joint-like appearance was not useful for the identification of Crohn's disease patients. Nevertheless, patients exhibiting the bamboo joint-like appearance in upper GI imaging should undergo further examination due to the high probability of Crohn's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: Kinichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Katsuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakatani
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dokoshi
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashima
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sutoh
authors.forename: Katsuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Eiichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ichiishi
authors.forename: Kiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otake
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohgo
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moriichi
authors.forename: Mikihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male