Pediatric IBD patients imaged gently, accurately with MR enterography
MR enterography is an excellent performer when it comes to diagnosing active inflammation in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially at the per-patient (vs. per-lesion) level, according to a literature review conducted in South Korea and published online Oct. 9 in JAMA Pediatrics.
Hee Mang Yoon, MD, PhD, of the University of Ulsan and colleagues analyzed 18 original English-language articles involving a total of 687 patients who underwent MR enterography for IBD.
Along with per-patient and per-lesion analyses, the team looked at assessments of overall bowel segments for all studies.
They found that, based on per-patient analysis, the summary sensitivity was 86 percent (95 percent confidence interval) and specificity was 91 percent (95 percent confidence interval).
Further, for all 18 studies, the summary sensitivity was 83 percent, the summary specificity was 93 percent and the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.95 (95 percent confidence interval).
In per-lesion analysis, the summary sensitivity was only 72 percent.
“Magnetic resonance enterography, which is a noninvasive and radiation-free modality, demonstrates high diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of active inflammation in pediatric patients with known or suspected IBD, especially at the per-patient level,” the authors conclude. “We hope that our study might be evidence of justification for the application of MR enterography in this population.”
The JAMA Network has posted the study in full for free.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.