“Abnormal findings abdominal/Pelvic CT scan? ”
I underwent an abdominal/pelvic CT scan with IV contrast to evaluate severe ongoing IBS-D symptoms that aren't improving with medications. According to my Gastroenterologist, she stated that the report from the Radiologist stated that there was "trace haziness in the fat without definite bowel thickening- concerning for mild inflammatory or infectious process" in the left colon. I have been having abdominal pain on the left side, weight loss, in addition to a lot of IBD/Ulcerative colitis symptoms. I'm undergoing a colonoscopy next week to diagnose and hopefully find answers but in the meantime, I was wondering what this means exactly and what the likelihood is that I actually have a form of Inflammatory bowel disease given these findings and my symptoms. Thank you.
Female | 21 years old
Complaint duration: 1 year off and on
Medications: Many
Conditions: IBS-D
3 Answers
The finding of "haziness" means this is consistent with a low level of inflammation, which is along the lower limits of detectability using a CT scan. In other words, there may be a low level of IBD taking place. Misty/hazy mesentery is a term used to describe the CT appearance of mesenteric fat with increased attenuation. Just as with fat stranding elsewhere, a number of processes can lead to the appearance including infiltration by inflammatory cells, edema, lymphatic accumulation, hemorrhage, tumor infiltration, and fibrosis.
This trace haziness associated with small bowel may be a mild secondary sign that there is something going on that may be the cause of your pain......Without bowel wall thickening is a good sign that the inflammation is not bad enough to thicken the bowel wall. Thickened bowel wall would be a more severe situation.
The findings are subtle and may be associated with inflammation in the adjacent bowel or an adjacent organ. Given the subtle findings, I would put more emphasis on labs and colonoscopy.
