MR Enterography
MR Enterography is commonly requested in many MR suites across the world, and the benefits of this exam are substantial to patients. Patients affected by inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's Disease or ulcerative colitis will often undergo many CT scans in their lifetime. Since these diseases primarily affect people between the ages of 15 to 35, the repeated exposure to ionizing radiation comes at significant risk. The patient fasts for six hours, but can drink sweet liquid to prevent dehydration and hypoglycemia. The patient drinks one liter of water containing 5% mannitol 30 to 40 minutes prior to the exam. The patient receives an IV antispasmodic to stop bowel motion. The technologist positions the patient prone on the table to spread and better visualize the bowel loops. MR protocol should be based on: coronal and axial T2-W SS-FSE, 3D T1-W GRE Dixon in axial and coronal plane (left image), coronal FIESTA (True-FISP/b-FFE) cine, FIESTA coronal (right image) and axial acquisition, 3D FSE MRCP and DWI in axial and coronal plane. Moreover, you can add highly accelerated 3D T2-W and 3D T1-W fat saturated (FS) FSE volumetric imaging and non Cartesian (BLADE/PROPELLER/MultiVane) T2-W FS in axial and coronal plane.
