Korean J Gastroenterol.  2002 Mar;39(3):192-197.

The Usefulness of Doppler Ultrasonography in Patients with Active Ulcerative Colitis

• Jung SS
• Cho YK
• Park JS
• Kim SY
• Kim CS
• Sohn CI
• Park CY
• Jeon WK
• Kim BI
• Jung ES
• Park HW

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: An increase in splanchnic blood flow in both artery and vein has been observed in active ulcerative colitis (UC). Doppler ultrasonography (US) is a non-invasive evaluation method of splanchnic arterial inflow in superior mesenteric artery (SMA). This study was undertaken to assess the usefulness of Doppler US in detecting changes of the hemodynamic variables in patients with UC.
METHODS
Twenty-two patients with UC (14, active UC; 8, inactive UC) were studied, and compared with 14 matched healthy subjects. Flow velocity, resistance index (RI), and pulsatile index (PI) of the SMA were evaluated by Doppler US.
RESULTS
Peak systolic velocity was significantly higher in patients with active UC than in patients with inactive UC and control (178+/-53 m/sec vs. 117+/-15 m/sec, 111+/-24 m/sec; p<0.05). The PI of SMA was significantly lower in patients with active and inactive UC than in control (1.58+/-0.53, 1.7+/-0.52 vs. 2.9+/-0.44; p<0.05). Minimal diastolic velocity and RI of the SMA were not significantly different among three groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Peak systolic velocity of SMA reflects the activity of the disease in patients with UC. Doppler US in patients with UC is an important non-invasive, readily available method to evaluate the activity of the disease and predict its recurrence.

Keyword

Ulcerative colitis; Doppler ultrasonography; Peak systolic velocity; Pulsatile index

MeSH Terms

Arteries
Colitis, Ulcerative*
Hemodynamics
Humans
Mesenteric Artery, Superior
Recurrence
Ulcer*
Ultrasonography, Doppler*
Veins