MR enteroclysis can be performed routinely with adequate image quality and sufficient small-bowel distention. The functional information provided by MR enteroclysis is identical to that provided at conventional enteroclysis.

Two patients with primary intraspinal primitive neuroectodermal tumour are presented. In a 32-year-old man, the tumour evolved intradurally from a sacral nerve root. Despite repeated surgery and radiochemotherapy, the patient suffered multiple intraspinal tumour relapses and intracranial seedings, and died 29 months after the first diagnosis. In a 17-year-old male adolescent, the tumour was located in the lumbar epidural space, extending into the paraspinal muscles. Following resection and radiochemotherapy, the patient is free from disease 23 months after the initial presentation. The clinical, radiological, histopathological and cytogenetic findings of both patients are presented and the relevant literature is reviewed. Particular attention is given to the histogenetic relationship between peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour and Ewing's sarcoma.

MR enteroclysis provides adequate image quality and sufficient distention of the entire small bowel. The functional information provided by MR enteroclysis equals that provided by conventional enteroclysis, which implies the ability reliably to depict even low-grade SBO. The inherent advantages of enteroclysis over conventional enteroclysis are the potential to detect extraluminal pathologic conditions and the ability to provide detailed information about the wall of the small bowel and the entire abdomen. Unlike conventional enteroclysis, MR enteroclysis does not have problems with overlapping bowel loops. MR enteroclysis has the potential to be an excellent diagnostic method for examinations of small bowel disease because of the functional information, the soft tissue contrast, and multiplanar imaging capabilities.

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