NON-INVASIVE ULTRASONOGRAPHIC SCORE FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE SEVERITY OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Intestinal ultrasound and shear wave elastography have gained increasing interest because of their promising results in the assessment of inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to find an ultrasonographic score to replace invasive endoscopic procedures for the management of these patients. The score includes ultrasound parameters that correlate well with clinical severity scales and inflammatory markers: bowel wall thickness, the Limberg score, disease extension and acoustic radiation force impulse measurements. The score proved to be well correlated with the Harvey Bradshaw Index, the Mayo score, C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin. For Crohn's disease, a cutoff value of 8 points could identify active disease with 81.81% sensitivity and 83% specificity, while for ulcerative colitis, a cutoff value of 7 points could discriminate between remission and relapse with 86.85% sensitivity and 94% specificity. In conclusion, our ultrasonographic score can differentiate relapse from remission in inflammatory bowel disease. (E-mail: ltribusro@yahoo.com) (C) 2020 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Intestinal ultrasound and shear wave elastography show promising results in assessing inflammatory bowel disease. A newly developed ultrasonographic score correlates well with clinical severity scales and inflammatory markers, offering a non-invasive alternative to endoscopic procedures for patient management. The score has different cutoff values for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, allowing for accurate differentiation between active disease and remission.