Advances in MRI for Crohn's disease complications

MRI is a frequently used imaging technique in the evaluation of Crohn’s disease. The research presented in this thesis focuses on advances in MRI for the assessment of stricturing and perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease.
Quantitative MRI techniques have been increasingly investigated to determine whether a Crohn’s-related stricture is predominantly inflammatory or fibrotic. The first part of this thesis evaluates various quantitative MRI techniques aimed at distinguishing inflammatory from chronic strictures.
In perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease, MRI is the recommended imaging modality to assess disease activity and monitor treatment response. The second part of this thesis focuses on the external validation of an MRI-based scoring system (MAGNIFI-CD index), evaluating its reliability and responsiveness in order to facilitate treatment monitoring for potential new therapies in perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease. This chapter also establishes MRI cut-off values for clinical response and remission. The cut-off value for remission is investigated in the last chapter in patients with Crohn’s disease receiving with Mesenchymal Stem Cell therapy for their perianal fistula.