Latent course of Crohn’s disease: the role of tomographic imaging in diagnosis

Abstract

We present a clinical case of ambiguous clinical manifestations of Crohn's disease with small intestine and rectal involvement. The diagnosis was verified via tomographic imaging. A 44-year-old patient with complaints of non-pronounced abdominal pain, dyspepsia. The lab panel showed indirect signs of malabsorption, an increase in fecal calprotectin. An endoscopic examination with histological verification revealed a picture of proctitis. After performing CT- and MRI-enterography multiple lesions of the small intestine were revealed. This clinical case demonstrates an atypical clinical picture of Crohn's disease with jejunal, iliac and rectal lesions. The patient had no characteristic complaints, the results of endoscopic and morphological studies were not informative. Imaging by means of computed and magnetic resonance tomography have played a crucial role in the diagnosis and successful treatment.