Abstract

Abstract Background To validate the Magnetic Resonance Index of Activity (MaRIA Score) in the pediatric population and determine if it would be possible to monitor inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) without invasive tests in some cases. Methods A cross-sectional and descriptive study of paediatric patients with previously diagnosed or suspected IBD who underwent upper endoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy, blood tests, stool analysis and MR Enterography (MRE) in a 15 days range, from October 2018 to February 2020. The clinical and endoscopic situation were assessed with the activity indices PUCAI/PCDAI/shPCDAI and the activity scores UCEIS/Mayo/SES-CD respectively, according to the underlying pathologies. We considered analytical remission as FC< 250 mcg/g, ERS< 20 mm and CRP< 1 mg/dl. The MRE results were assessed with the MaRIA Score, that is validated for adults. Results Amongst 21 patients, 12 (57%) were males. 12 patients had Crohn ́s disease (CD) (57%), 3 had ulcerative colitis (UC) (14%), 6 had IBD unclassified (IBDu) (28%). The mean age at diagnosis was 14.2 ± 0.7 and the progression time of the disease was 3.9 ± 0.6 years. A total of 16 patients showed clinical remission (76%), 6 of them (28%) also had endoscopic and histological remission. Eight patients were receiving biological treatment (38%). The measured acute phase reactants (APR) were: CRP 0.9 ± 0.5 mg/dl, ESR 13.7 ± 2.6 mm, α1 acid glycoprotein 95.5 ± 1.1 mg/dl and fecal calprotectin (FC) of 1154.3 ± 254.8 mcg/g. Rotavirus, adenovirus, Clostridium difficile toxin analysis and stool culture were performed in 14 patients, all of them negative. The MaRIA Score values were 54.3 ± 53.3, being 0 in 11 cases. We found no differences between the MaRIA Score and the analytical remission. We found a significant correlation between the MaRIA Score and the PUCAI value (p < 0.05), but not with other clinical scores. Patients in clinical remission showed a tendency to have a lower MaRIA Scores, but these differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.09). The MaRIA Score showed lower values for those with endoscopic and histological remission (p < 0.05), All the patients with MaRIA Score> 0 were CD except one, diagnosed with UC. Out of the 15 patients with endoscopic/histological involvement, 10 presented a MaRIA Score> 0. Five of the 11 patients (45%) in whom the MaRIA Score was 0 did not have endoscopic and histological remission, only one of them had a diagnosis of CD. Conclusion The MaRIA Score was significantly correlated with endoscopic scores in pediatric IBD patients, especially in CD. However, based on the results of this study, the MRE should not replace the EGD and colonoscopy in order to thoroughly evaluate the disease activity.

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