EnteroCT With Enteroclysis Versus Enterography-MRI for the Diagnosis of Tumors of the Small Intestine: a Pilot Study

Early diagnosis of tumors of the small intestine is a challenge for clinicians and for radiologists. The detection of tumors of the small intestine is a field in which the video capsule endoscopy has the lowest performance.

The entero-CT with enteroclysis is the imaging technique used primarily to explore patients with a strong suspicion of small intestine tumors. However the entero-CT with enteroclysis has disadvantages : it is irradiating, the nasojejunal tube implies a discomfort to the patient and it is a complicated examination in terms of logistics with necessity of specific equipment to insert the nasojejunal tube.

MRI has been proposed as an alternative imaging technique and satisfactory results have been reported with the MRI enteroclysis. However, this technique has several disadvantages related to nasojejunal tube insertion and the necessity of equipment compatible with the high magnetic fields. The enterography-MRI without enteroclysis, whose principle is to distend the small intestine by ingestion of large quantities of a liquid, has a major and undisputed role in the exploration of Crohn's disease of the small bowel. However, its capacity for distension of the small intestine for optimal tumor detection is questioned and its role in tumor detection is largely unknown.