Diagnosis and management of Crohn’s disease

Diagnosis and management of Crohn’s disease is based on clinical signs and symptoms combined with laboratory tests, endoscopy and imaging techniques. Endoscopy is the gold standard for the evaluation of patients with Crohn’s disease. Nevertheless, a correct diagnosis requires radiological examinations to define the extent and stage of the disease and especially to diagnose transmural complications including fistulae, abscesses and phlegmons. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are currently indicated in the study of the gastrointestinal tract. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of these two methods are similar and both also present certain limitations. CT is widely used and execution time is short, whereas MRI is much less common and requires a longer execution time. However, patients with Crohn’s disease are often young, and the frequency with which they have to undergo radiological examinations should be taken into account, as several trials have suggest...