Abstract
Intestinal ultrasound has become an established and valid diagnostic method for inflammatory
bowel disease, diverticulitis, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, perforation and intussusception.
However, little is known about sonographic findings in other rarer intestinal diseases.
Ultrasound may display the transformation of the intestinal wall from a normal to
a pathological state both in inflammatory and neoplastic disease. Besides demonstrating
the transmural aspect, it also shows the mesenteric reaction as well as complications
such as fistula, abscesses, stenosis, or ileus. Furthermore, in some diseases intestinal
ultrasound may serve as a diagnostic clue if typical patterns of the bowel wall and
impaired peristalsis can be demonstrated. This may lead to an important reduction
of invasive and expensive (follow-up) procedures. The information gained by ultrasound
regarding intestinal disease, however, is as important and valid as e. g. in case
of focal lesions of the liver. Serving as tertiary referral centers for a broad spectrum
of intestinal diseases, we therefore report some aspects of ultrasound in patients
with less often recognized diseases. The article is divided into two parts, the first
focusing on examination techniques, infectious diseases and celiac sprue and the second
on hereditary, vascular and neoplastic diseases and varia.
