The features of intestinal tuberculosis by contrast-enhanced ultrasound

PurposeTo examine the imaging characteristics of intestinal tuberculosis by conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).Materials and methodsCharacteristics of the conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasound images of 31 patients with intestinal tuberculosis confirmed by surgery were retrospectively examined. CEUS was used to evaluate the pattern of the bowel wall enhancement.ResultsOf the 31 patients with intestinal tuberculosis (IT), 27 had infections located at the ileocecum and 4 at the hepatic flexure of the colon. Conventional ultrasound showed that the mean thickening of bowel wall was 1.38 cm, ranging from 0.56 to 2.20 cm. Two types of bowel wall enhancement patterns on CEUS were observed. For 13 % of the patients (4/31), the serosa was quickly enhanced first, then the mucosa was enhanced gradually (type 1 enhancement). In the remaining 27 patients, the whole bowel wall was quickly diffusely enhanced (type 2 enhancement). In addition, the enhancement of the thickened bowel wall was homogeneous in 9 patients, while the others showed inhomogeneous enhancement.ConclusionCEUS found detailed patterns of bowel wall enhancement of intestinal tuberculosis and had the potential to provide useful information for the diagnosis of suspected patients.