SUMMARYBackground: Although bowel ultrasound is a widely accepted diagnostic tool in bowel diseases, its value as the primary imaging procedure in patients with symptoms/signs suggestive of inflammatory bowel disorders is still unclear. Aim: To investigate the accuracy of bowel ultrasound compared with barium X-ray studies, computed tomography, endoscopy and bowel surgery in the initial assessment of inflammatory bowel disorders. Methods: Four hundred and eighty-seven patients hospitalized consecutively for symptoms or signs suggestive of a bowel disorder between December 1999 and March 2002 were initially enrolled in the study. All patients underwent bowel ultrasound as the first imaging procedure within 36 h of admission; radiographic evaluations, endoscopy and/or surgery were then performed as appropriate and the results of these investigations were used as the gold standard. Results: Three hundred and thirty-six patients had pathological findings of the bowel detectable at

The epidemiologic data confirm a rightward shift in the colonic distribution of cancer.

The risk for gallstones (GD) in inflammatory bowel diseases and the factors responsible for this complication have not been well established. We studied the incidence of GD in a cohort of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and investigated the related risk factors. A case-controlled study was carried out. The study population included 634 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients (429 CD, 205 UC) and 634 age-matched, sex-matched, and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls free of GD at enrollment, who were followed for a mean of 7.2 years (range, 5-11 years).The incidence of GD was calculated by dividing the number of events per person-years of follow-up. Multivariate analysis was used to discriminate among the impact of different variables on the risk of developing GD. The incidence rates of GD were 14.35/1,000 persons/year in CD as compared with 7.

More than one third of IBD patients change dietary habits before diagnosis. Margarine, red meat and cheese increase the risk of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Focal gastritis is relatively common in CD patients although it is not exclusive to this condition. Its recognition could be useful in the diagnostic workup of any patient with suspected or indeterminate inflammatory bowel disease, as it makes a diagnosis of CD more likely.