Role of molecular imaging in the management of patients affected by inflammatory bowel disease: State-of-the-art

Federico Caobelli; Laura Evangelista; Natale Quartuccio; Demetrio Familiari; Corinna Altini; Angelo Castello; Mariapaola Cucinotta; Rossella Di Dato; Cristina Ferrari; Aurora Kokomani; Iashar Laghai; Riccardo Laudicella; Silvia Migliari; Federica Orsini; Salvatore Antonio Pignata; Cristina Popescu; Erinda Puta; Martina Ricci; Silvia Seghezzi; Alessandro Sindoni; Martina Sollini; Letterio Sturiale; Anna Svyridenka; Vittoria Vergura; Pierpaolo Alongi; Young Aimn Working Group

doi:10.4329/wjr.v8.i10.829

Role of molecular imaging in the management of patients affected by inflammatory bowel disease: State-of-the-art

World J Radiol. 2016 Oct 28;8(10):829-845. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i10.829.

Authors

Federico Caobelli¹, Laura Evangelista¹, Natale Quartuccio¹, Demetrio Familiari¹, Corinna Altini¹, Angelo Castello¹, Mariapaola Cucinotta¹, Rossella Di Dato¹, Cristina Ferrari¹, Aurora Kokomani¹, Iashar Laghai¹, Riccardo Laudicella¹, Silvia Migliari¹, Federica Orsini¹, Salvatore Antonio Pignata¹, Cristina Popescu¹, Erinda Puta¹, Martina Ricci¹, Silvia Seghezzi¹, Alessandro Sindoni¹, Martina Sollini¹, Letterio Sturiale¹, Anna Svyridenka¹, Vittoria Vergura¹, Pierpaolo Alongi¹, Young Aimn Working Group¹

Affiliation

¹ Federico Caobelli, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsspital Basel, CH-4032 Basel, Switzerland.

Abstract

Aim: To present the current state-of-the art of molecular imaging in the management of patients affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed in order to find important original articles on the role of molecular imaging in the management of patients affected by IBD. The search was updated until February 2016 and limited to articles in English.

Results: Fifty-five original articles were included in this review, highlighting the role of single photon emission tomography and positron emission tomography.

Conclusion: To date, molecular imaging represents a useful tool to detect active disease in IBD. However, the available data need to be validated in prospective multicenter studies on larger patient samples.

Keywords: 18F-Fluorodehoxiglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Molecular imaging; White blood cell scintigraphy.