[Ultrasound diagnosis of Crohn disease]. / Sonographie bei Morbus Crohn.

In inflammatory bowel diseases sonography can depict the transformations in the bowel wall structure as well as extramural changes. Certain patterns of altered stratification can be defined which can be helpful in determining disease activity. Crohn's disease is extending very often into the mesenteries and to the serosa, omentum and peritoneum on the other side. Sonography will detect fistulas, abscesses, omental cake and ascites for example. Extraintestinal manifestations like those of the biliary tree, the pancreas, the kidneys can be seen. Color doppler sonography will be able to define disease activity. In differentiating Crohn's disease from infectious enterocolitis and diverticulitis as well as other rare disorders sonography can be useful.

[Sonographic structure of the intestinal wall--significance for the diagnosis of inflammatory intestinal diseases]. / Sonographischer Darmwandaufbau--Bedeutung für die Diagnose entzündlicher Darmerkrankungen.

Sonography can depict the transformation of the intestinal wall in Crohn's disease, esp. its layers. Besides demonstrating the transmural aspect of inflammation it also shows typical mesenteritis and complications such as fistula, abscess, inflammatory tumour, stenosis and ileus. Sonography proves invaluable in following up Crohn's disease. Differential diagnosis against other diseases of the bowel wall (ulcerous colitis, radiogenic, ischaemic, infectious and pseudomembranous colitis, as well as some types of lymphoma and carcinoma of the intestine) on a purely morphological basis is difficult, but nevertheless possible.

[Sonography in Crohn disease--the conclusions of an experts' group]. / Sonografie beim Morbus Crohn--Stellungnahme einer Expertengruppe.

Sonography is adding a new dimension to diagnosis of Crohn's disease: the analysis of the transmural and peri-intestinal manifestations of the chronic inflammation. Distortions in the structure of intestinal wall are recognizable, the impact on transport of intestinal content can be judged, penetration of inflammation into the bowel surrounding as fistula, abscess, mesenteriitis und peritonitis is safely seen. Differential diagnosis on a strictly sonographic basis is difficult. The paper represents the results of an expert meeting held at the University of Frankfurt/M.

Genetic analysis of inflammatory bowel disease in a large European cohort supports linkage to chromosomes 12 and 16.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex disorder of unknown etiology. Epidemiological investigations suggest a genetic basis for IBD. Recent genetic studies have identified several IBD linkages. The significance of these linkages will be determined by studies in large patient collections. The aim of this study was to replicate IBD linkages on chromosomes 12 and 16 in a large European cohort. METHODS: Three hundred fifty-nine affected sibling pairs from 274 kindreds were genotyped using microsatellite markers spanning chromosomes 12 and 16. Affection status of the sibling pairs was defined as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). RESULTS: Nonparametric statistical analyses showed linkage for both chromosomes. Two-point results for chromosome 12 peaked at D12S303 (logarithm of odds [LOD], 2.15; P = 0.003) for CD and at D12S75 (LOD, 0.92; P = 0.03) for UC. Multipoint analyses produced a peak LOD of 1.8 for CD. Chromosome 16 showed linkage for CD at marker D16S415 (LOD, 1.52; P = 0.007). Multipoint support peaked above markers D16S409 and D16S411 (LOD, 1.7). CONCLUSIONS: These data are consistent with linkage of IBD to chromosomes 12 and 16. The replication of genetic risk loci in a large independent family collection indicates important and common susceptibility genes in these regions and will facilitate identification of genes involved in IBD.