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MR of the small bowel is a useful technique for the evaluation of both intraluminal and extraluminal pathologic involvement of the small bowel in patients with Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is associated with a range of extraintestinal complications that sometimes may be the initial presenting symptoms. Some of these extraintestinal complications may not correlate with disease activity, but in general, they tend to follow the clinical course of disease and may have a high impact on life quality, morbidity, and even mortality in these patients. Our purpose is to describe some abdominopelvic extraintestinal complications of Crohn's disease, such as hepatopancreatobiliary, genitourinary, musculoskeletal, peritoneal, and lymph-nodal, detectable at MR enterography., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Considering that multiple imaging examinations are often necessary for monitoring Crohn's disease (CD) activity and severity in order to guide and monitor appropriate treatment, the ideal imaging test would be reproducible, well tolerated by patients, and free of ionizing radiation. For these reasons recent studies have highlighted the role of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique optimized for small bowel imaging in the evaluation of small bowel disorders. In this regard there are two main methodological approaches represented by MR enterography, following administration of an oral contrast medium, and MR enteroclysis, following administration of contrast medium through a nasojejuneal tube. MRI may be used to demonstrate the pathologic findings and complications of CD. In particular, MR has excellent sensitivity and specificity, ranging from 88%-98% and 78%-100%, respectively, for the detection of active inflammation, wall thickening, ulcerations, increased wall enhancement, increased vascularity, perienteric inflammation, and reactive adenopathy. MR also allows more accurate identification of associated complications including penetrating and fibrostenotic disease as well as the more rare extraintestinal manifestations that are usually associated with severe and longstanding intestinal inflammation, the latter often guiding the therapeutic approach. In the progression of CD some rare complications can occur that, to our knowledge, were only briefly or never mentioned in the radiological literature regarding MR enterography or enteroclysis and in which the application of these techniques play a key role., (Copyright © 2010 Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc.)