Kaiser Permanente Clinical Review Criteria are developed to assist in administering plan benefits. These criteria neither offer medical advice nor guarantee coverage. Kaiser Permanente reserves the exclusive right to modify, revoke, suspend or change any or all of these Review Criteria, at Kaiser Permanente's sole discretion, at any time, with or without notice. Member contracts differ in their...

BACKGROUND Evaluation of pregnant women with known or suspected Crohn's disease (CD) remains a challenge. Magnetic Resonance Enterography (MRE) is a promising diagnostic tool in these patients; however, the clinical data on MRE utilization in pregnancy is scarce. The aim of the study was to describe the experience with MRE in pregnant CD patients in a tertiary referral center. METHODS We retr...

NOTICE: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Options, Inc., provide these Clinical Review Criteria for internal use by their members and health care providers. The Clinical Review Criteria only apply to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Options, Inc. Use of the Clinical Review Criter...

Capsule endoscopy (CE) avoids the ionizing radiation, deep sedation, and general anesthesia required by other imaging modalities, making it particularly valuable in the evaluation of gastrointestinal disease in pediatric patients. In examining the use of CE in pediatric and adult patients through a review of the literature, it was observed that CE is most frequently indicated for the evaluation...

Primary benign and malignant neoplasm of the small bowel are rare. Malignant tumours often present late symptoms resulting in a poor prognosis. Early detection of small bowel neoplasms is desirable but challenging for both clinicians and radiologists. Conventional double contrast enteroclysis was the method of choice in small bowel imaging but is increasingly being replaced by cross-sectional i...

Noninvasive imaging with CT and magnetic resonance enterography or direct visualization with wireless capsule endoscopy can provide valuable diagnostic information and direct therapy. Enteroscopy technology and techniques have evolved significantly and allow diagnosis and therapy deep within the small bowel, previously attainable only with intraoperative enteroscopy. Push enteroscopy, readily a...

Introduction Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn disease (CD), and indeterminate colitis. While sharing many clinical features, ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease are considered separate entities with unique characteristics. Due to the chronic nature of these diseases, frequent and repeated imaging is often necessary for diagnosis and therapeutic planni...

BACKGROUND/AIMS To assess the sensitivity of magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) activity and correlation between endoscopic and MRE scores in predicting the activity grade. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-five ileal CD patients with clinical and biochemical evidence of activation underwent ileocolonoscopy and MRE within 7 days of their application. Sim...

CT enterography is a new imaging modality that has distinct advantages over conventional CT, wireless capsule endoscopy, and barium examination. CT enterography is noninvasive and allows rapid mapping of disease activity before endoscopy and in cases where the endoscope cannot reach the diseased segment. CT enterography is readily available, is operator independent, and allows evaluation of ext...