Challenges and Strategies to Optimising the Quality of Small Bowel Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Crohn’s Disease

Abstract

Magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) is one of the most highly utilised tools in the assessment of patients with small bowel Crohn’s disease (CD). As a non-invasive modality, it has both patient and procedure-related advantages over ileocolonoscopy which is the current gold standard for Crohn’s disease activity assessment. MRE relies upon high-quality images to ensure accurate disease activity assessment; however, few studies have explored the impact of image quality on the accuracy of small bowel CD activity assessment. Bowel distension and motion artifacts are two key imaging parameters that impact the quality of images obtained through MRE. Multiple strategies have been employed to both minimise the effects of motion artifacts and improve bowel distension. This review discusses the definitions of bowel distension and motion artifacts within the literature with a particular focus on current strategies to improve bowel distension and limit motion artifacts in MRE.