P139 Asymptomatic brain lesions on cranial magnetic resonance imaging in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Background/Aims: This study aimed to examine the fre-quency and type of asymptomatic neurological involvement in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Fifty-one IBD patients with no known neurological diseases or symptoms and 30 controls with unspecified headaches without neurological ori-gins were included. Patients and controls underwent cranial MRI assessments for white matter lesions, sinusitis, otitis-mastoiditis, and other brain parenchymal findings. Results: The frequencies of white matter lesions, other brainstem parenchymal lesions, and otitis-mastoiditis were similar in IBD patients and controls (p>0.05), whereas sinusitis was significantly more frequent in IBD patients (56.9% vs 33.3%, p=0.041). However, among those subjects with white mat-ter lesions, the number of such lesions was significantly higher in IBD patients compared to controls (12.75±9.78 vs 3.20±2.90, p 0.05 for all). Conclusions: The incidence of white matter lesions seemed to be similar in IBD patients and normal healthy individuals, and the lesions detected did not pose any clini-cal significance. However, long-term clinical follow-up of the lesions is warranted. (Gut Liver 2013;7:169-174)Key Words: Inflammatory bowel disease; Asymptomatic brain lesion; Magnetic resonance imaging; White matter le-sionsINTRODUCTION