Diagnosed with Ileitis now having MRI of the small Bowel

[moose185]

After a colonoscopy I was diagnosed with Ileitis which is inflammation of the terminal Ileium around 2 weeks ago.

They took biopsies but I haven't had the results yet. Today I got sent a letter through for an appointment for an MRI scan of my small Bowel.

I was wondering what is this used to diagnose? what are they looking for? I'm a bit worried about the whole thing as the doctor hasn't told me anything. I have to fast as well for it and drink some sort of liquid so they can see my bowel properly.

 

[SarahD]

Hi Moose,

MRI lets them see where the scope can't reach, as the scope doesn't go all the way through you. They can also show fistula tracks in more detail than can be gained from a scope.

For me, I had a stricture in my terminal ileum which the scope couldn't pass so I had an MRI to give more detail about how long the stricture was, as well as to give a view of the rest of the small bowel that couldn't be viewed on the scope. Did your doctor mention strictures or fistula at all? Otherwise they'll probably just be looking for other areas that might be affected.

Are you in the UK? Different hospitals get you to drink different liquids, for me I had to drink Klean Prep which I find hard to drink. I've had two MRI's, so for the second one I went prepared and took some Ribena with me to mix with the Klean prep to mask the taste which made it a million times easier to drink. The MRI scan itself is absolutely nothing to worry about, you just have to lay on a table whilst the scanner does it stuff around you.

If you're worried about why they're doing the scan it's probably worth getting in contact with your doctors secretary. They should be able to pass your message on and get the doctor to call you back.

Sarah

 

[prettykitty]

Hi Moose,
My gastroenterologist ordered a small bowel series after identifying inflammation in the terminal ileum on colonoscopy. As Sarah said above, the scope can't go very far past the ileum, to the additional imaging was to identify additional areas that might be affected. So different imaging method, but I suspect for the same purpose. Your doctor needs to know whether there is additional inflammation or other damage in the small intestine in order to inform clinical management.
Good luck! I had MR enterography last summer -- I did not have to do any bowel prep, thank goodness! But be warned... they gave me glucagon as part of the procedure and it made me EXTREMELY nauseous! I nearly lost my lunch all over the table...

 

[moose185]

Hi do you mind if I ask what diagnosis they gave you after the MRI scan?

 

[SarahD]

Hi do you mind if I ask what diagnosis they gave you after the MRI scan?

I'd already been diagnosed with Crohn's, so my MRI only confirmed that my disease was confined to my terminal ileum (ileitis).

 

[moose185]

How were you initially diagnosed with Crohn's disease? Was it through a colonoscopy? Or blood test? My doctors have diagnosed me with ileitis but that is all for now.

 

[xSophiexx]

Hi Moose, I was diagnosed with Ileitis and an MRI afterwards confirmed the area was also thickened, it can also help show other areas that may be affected. For example in higher areas that they cannot reach with scopes. The MRI liquid i drank was basically a sweet water that they allowed me to mix with orange squash. MRI is, in my opinion, one of the easier tests we go through.

 

[moose185]

How are you symptoms just now? I've had a lot of symptoms for many years such as extreme fatigue, joint pains, eye and sinus pain, fevers, stomach pain, diohera.

Do you have similar symptoms? I really hope they can do something for I've been sick for so long I want my life back.

 

[deedee]

Yep, like others have said, the MRI will let them see your entire small intestine, not just the terminal ileum which is the highest a colonoscopy goes. They are probably going to look to see if you have any inflammation elsewhere.

I had one, and the stuff I had to drink was pretty nasty, to be honest. Otherwise it was no big deal. Good luck!

 

[moose185]

So because I've been diagnosed with inflammation of the terminal ilieum does that mean I have crohns? A lot of people have said they had ileitis and had crohns, I'm confused as I thought this was different from Crohn's disease. Sorry for all my confusing questions I just a bit clueless about it all as my doctors are not saying much to me I even phoned them and left a message but heard nothing back.

Thanks.

 

[SarahD]

Ileitis means inflammation of the ileum. Usually it's caused by Crohn's but I think there can be other less common causes too.

 

[moose185]

Thanks. I guess I just have to wait and see what they say.

 

[SarahD]

This abstract might give you some more info, though some of it sounds a bit technical:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20532706

 

[xmdmom]

My son was diagnosed with Crohn's with only ileitis, by colonoscopy, elevated CRP, anemia , and a few months of diarrhea.

Below is the list of causes of ileitis from the article mentioned in the previous post. Note many are ruled out on the basis of history alone. If you didn't have radiation treatment, it's not radiation enteritis. If you haven't taken lots of NSAIDs like motrin, that's not the cause. Others are ruled out at the time of colonoscopy. It's not backwash ileitis if there's no colonic disease. From my understanding, if the biopsy shows a granuloma, it's Crohn's unless you have systemic TB. If it doesn't show a granuloma, but you have
symptoms and labs that support Crohn's, that's what it is; this was my son's case. Infectious causes generally present differently than Crohn's. Systemic diseases that cause ileitis affect other organs too. Here is the full article if you are interested http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2914216

Best wishes.

Selected causes of ileitis

Infectious
Yersinia spp.
Salmonella spp.
Clostridium difficile
Typhlitis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium avium
Actinomycosis
Anisakiasis
Cytomegalovirus
Histoplasma capsulatum
Spondyloarthropathies
Ankylosing spondylitis
Reactive arthritis
Arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease
Psoriasis with arthritis
Undifferentiated spondylarthropathy
Vascular
Vasculitides
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Polyarteritis nodosa
Henoch-Schönlein purpura
Behçet's disease
Other vasculitides: Churg-Strauss syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis vasculitis,
Wegener granulomatosis, lymphomatoid granulomatosis, giant-cell
arteritis, Takayasu arteritis, thromboangiitis obliterans
Ischemia
Small-bowel neoplasms
Cecal or small-bowel (ileal) adenocarcinoma
Lymphoma
Carcinoid tumor
Lymphosarcoma
Metastatic cancer
Drug-related
NSAID enteropathy
Other drugs: KCL tablets, parenteral gold therapy, oral contraceptives, ergotamine,
digoxin, diuretics, antihypertensives
Infiltrative
Eosinophilic enteritis
Sarcoidosis
Amyloidosis
Other causes
Backwash ileitis due to ulcerative colitis
Endometriosis
Radiation enteritis
KCL—potassium chloride; NSAID—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

 

[723crossroads]

My son was diagnosed with Crohn's with only ileitis, by colonoscopy, elevated CRP, anemia , and a few months of diarrhea.

Below is the list of causes of ileitis from the article mentioned in the previous post. Note many are ruled out on the basis of history alone. If you didn't have radiation treatment, it's not radiation enteritis. If you haven't taken lots of NSAIDs like motrin, that's not the cause. Others are ruled out at the time of colonoscopy. It's not backwash ileitis if there's no colonic disease. From my understanding, if the biopsy shows a granuloma, it's Crohn's unless you have systemic TB. If it doesn't show a granuloma, but you have
symptoms and labs that support Crohn's, that's what it is; this was my son's case. Infectious causes generally present differently than Crohn's. Systemic diseases that cause ileitis affect other organs too. Here is the full article if you are interested http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2914216

Best wishes.

Selected causes of ileitis

Infectious
Yersinia spp.
Salmonella spp.
Clostridium difficile
Typhlitis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium avium
Actinomycosis
Anisakiasis
Cytomegalovirus
Histoplasma capsulatum
Spondyloarthropathies
Ankylosing spondylitis
Reactive arthritis
Arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease
Psoriasis with arthritis
Undifferentiated spondylarthropathy
Vascular
Vasculitides
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Polyarteritis nodosa
Henoch-Schönlein purpura
Behçet's disease
Other vasculitides: Churg-Strauss syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis vasculitis,
Wegener granulomatosis, lymphomatoid granulomatosis, giant-cell
arteritis, Takayasu arteritis, thromboangiitis obliterans
Ischemia
Small-bowel neoplasms
Cecal or small-bowel (ileal) adenocarcinoma
Lymphoma
Carcinoid tumor
Lymphosarcoma
Metastatic cancer
Drug-related
NSAID enteropathy
Other drugs: KCL tablets, parenteral gold therapy, oral contraceptives, ergotamine,
digoxin, diuretics, antihypertensives
Infiltrative
Eosinophilic enteritis
Sarcoidosis
Amyloidosis
Other causes
Backwash ileitis due to ulcerative colitis
Endometriosis
Radiation enteritis
KCL—potassium chloride; NSAID—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Holy Cow!!!! Never heard of 90% of these!!!

 

[CrohnsinMaryland]

I was just diagnosed this week with Terminal Ileitis. What can I expect in my future? My doc said if I keep taking the medicine I should be able to maintain.....your thoughts??