الفهرس 
Anatomy of the small and large intestineOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprised of the well-recognized CD and ulcerative colitis (UC), is one of the most serious, chronic gastrointestinal (GI) conditions affecting the growth, social well-being, and education in children worldwide.
Crohn disease may involve any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract from mouth to anus and is characterized by recurrent episodes of exacerbation and remission. The distal ileum and colon are the most frequently affected parts. CD is characterized by chronic segmental inflammation (skip lesions) that may progressively extend through all layers of the intestinal wall and involve extraintestinal structures.
Ulcerative colitis is a diffuse chronic mucosal inflammation of the mucosa that is limited to the colon and invariably affects the rectum.
Diagnosis of IBD consists of groups of investigations including laboratory and imaging groups to reach an accurate diagnosis. Lab. include hemoglobin, albumin, inflammatory markers such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) and stool cultures. Imaging modalities include upper and lower GI endoscopy, CT and MRI. The goals of imaging in IBD are to primarily determine the extent of small bowel involvement, assess complications, and help determine patients who are candidates for surgery.
Pediatric patients with IBD requires serial follow up imaging to determine the extent and progress of the disease, which means high rates of radiation exposure, predisposing tomore serious complications later on, here emerges the importance of MRI over other imaging modalities.
MRI is also superior in showing bowel wall, manifestations of the disease and the extra-luminal complications e.g fistula, sinus, abscess.
MRE protocol includes specific patients preparation, then serial of sequences including (HASTE, true FISP, T2 FSE, Diffusion and SPGR after I.V contrast).
MRE is useful in diagnosis of early signs of IBD e.g (mural hyper-enhancement, bowel wall thickening, comb sign), late signs e.g (stricture, stenosis), intestinal complications e.g (sinus, fistula and phlegmon) and extra-intestinal complications e.g (psoas abscess, autoimmune pancreatitis).