Diagnostic possibilities of magnetic resonance imaging in inflammatory bowel diseases in children

Introduction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a modern diagnostic method aimed at detecting pathological changes in tissues and internal organs. MRI possesses of significant diagnostic potential in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in children. An alternative to endoscopic examination is MR enterography, a non-invasive technique that is not associated with ionizing radiation, which allows determining not only the condition of the intestinal wall throughout, including thickness and changes in the lumen, but also identifying extra-intestinal complications, as well as the response to treatment.

The aim of the work is to determine the diagnostic capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging in IBD in children. To analyze the literature, a search was conducted in the databases PubMed, MedLine, Google Scholar, and RSCI over the past 10 years. The most important advantage of MRI is its non-invasiveness, which is welcome when examining children of different ages. To improve the image quality during MRI, contrast is used, and various modes are used without a contrast agent. The indices for assessing intestinal inflammatory activity and perinatal complications on MRI closely correlate with the reference endoscopic data. MRI is widely used not only as a diagnostic tool for IBD in children, but also as a method of dynamic patient monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy.

Conclusion. MRI is one of the most accurate and informative diagnostic methods along with endoscopic examination. The advantage of the method is its non-invasiveness, which makes it more accessible for use in clinical practice, especially in children, as well as the ability to assess the condition of anatomical structures that are difficult to reach with an endoscope.

Contribution:
Gorelova E.S., Anikin A.V., Usoltseva O.V., Potapov A.S. — concept and design of the study;
Gorelova E.S. — collection and processing of the material;
Gorelova E.S., Anikin A.V. — writing the text;
Gorelova E.S., Usoltseva O.V., Anikin A.V., Potapov A.S. — editing the text.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: April 22, 2025
Accepted: May 20, 2025
Published: June 27, 2025

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