Doppler sonography of the superior mesenteric artery in Crohn's disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate blood flow in the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) in patients with active and inactive Crohn's disease (CD) using Doppler sonography to dynamically assess the changes of resistance in both fasting and postprandial states.

Doppler sonography of the SMA was performed on 15 patients (mean age, 38 +/- 4 years) with active CD and on 15 patients (mean age, 41 +/- 5 years) with inactive CD. Imaging was performed at both fasting and 15 min after an 1890-kJ meal. A preliminary examination of 10 healthy volunteers with no signs of intestinal disease (mean age, 28 +/- 2 years) was necessary to define the parameters of normality. Because we wanted to express the postprandial resistive change in the SMA, we introduced a parameter called resistive difference (RD), defined as the mathematic difference between the resistive index measured at fasting (highest value) and measured at 15 min after the meal (lowest value).

By evaluating the relationship between the RD and extension of disease, we found a direct correlation between progressive extension of disease and reduction of the RD in patients with active CD (correlation coefficient, .98) whereas we found no such correlation in patients with inactive CD (correlation coefficient, .05).

We believe that Doppler sonography of the SMA is a promising noninvasive method to detect inflammatory disease of the small bowel, to evaluate its extension, and to document resolution of disease after therapy.