Computational postprocessing quantification of small bowel motility using magnetic resonance images in clinical practice: An initial experience

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 277 - 287
• Main Authors: Åkerman, André, Månsson, Sven, Fork, Frans-Thomas, Leander, Peter, Ekberg, Olle, Taylor, Stuart, Menys, Alex, Ohlsson, Bodil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Algorithms; C-reactive protein; Clinical Medicine; Computer applications; Confidence intervals; Crohn's disease; Disease control; Feasibility Studies; Female; Gastrointestinal Motility; Hogs; Humans; Ileum; Image Enhancement - methods; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Inflammatory bowel disease; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - physiopathology; Intestine, Small - diagnostic imaging; Intestine, Small - physiopathology; Irritable bowel syndrome; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - diagnostic imaging; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - physiopathology; Jejunum; Klinisk medicin; magnetic resonance enterography (MRE); Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine - methods; Male; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Motility; motility index score; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Patients; Pilot Projects; Quantitation; Radiologi och bildbehandling; Radiology and Medical Imaging; Reproducibility of Results; Resonance; Sensitivity and Specificity; small bowel; Small intestine; Ulcerative colitis; motility; Crohn's disease; small bowel; magnetic resonance enterography (MRE); motility index score
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25166

Purpose To study the feasibility and to gauge the potential clinical impact of quantifying small bowel motility using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a larger population with a spectra of gastrointestinal conditions with impaired small bowel motility. Materials and Methods Data were gathered retrospectively from a cohort of 127 patients undergoing MR enterography (1.5 Tesla) in 2011. Cine motility sequences were processed with validated motility analysis software and a parametric motility map was generated. Regions of interests were drawn in the jejunum, ileum, and terminal ileum, and Jacobian standard deviation mean motility index' score (MIS) was calculated. Patients were divided into Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and healthy subjects. Results In CD, terminal ileum motility was lower in comparison to healthy subjects (mean difference: ‐0.1052 arbitrary units, 95% confidence interval: ‐0.1981–‐0.0122, P = 0.018). Subgrouping of CD showed that the difference was recognized in patients with disease limited to the small bowel (mean difference: ‐0.1440 arbitrary units, 95% confidence interval: −0.2491–‐0.0389, P = 0.002). Visible dysmotility of terminal ileum on MRI reflected a reduced MIS compared with normal motility (0.22 ± 0.09 and 0.33 ± 0.15 arbitrary units, respectively, P = 0.043). Motility correlated negatively between ileum and age (P = 0.021), and between terminal ileum and C‐reactive protein in ulcerative colitis (P = 0.031). Conclusion Motility quantitation revealed a significant difference in motility of terminal ileum in patients with small bowel CD compared with healthy subjects, concording with visible dysmotility and inflammatory changes. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:277–287.