Correlations between colonic wall thickening in patients with virally induced cirrhosis on CT and clinical status

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to determine the frequency and CT ima ging spectrum of colonic wall thickening and correlate these with the clini cal severity of virally induced cirrhosis. Method: Fifty-nine patients were identified with virally induced cirrhosis and no other causes of colonic wall thickening. The abdominal CT scans of t hese patients were retrospectively reviewed by two radiologists to determin e the presence of colonic wall thickening from the ascending colon to the d escending colon, to assess the segmental distribution, and to correlate the se findings with the clinical status assessed by Child-Pugh classification, presence of ascites, splenic volume index, varices score, and serum albumi n levels. Results: Colonic wall thickening was identified in 18 (31%) patients. The f requency of the affected distribution of colonic wall thickening was as fol lows: ascending colon in 17 (29%) patients, transverse colon in 11 (19%) pa tients, and descending colon in 7 patients (12%). The ascending colon was t he most common site of colonic wall thickening (p < 0.001). Ten (17%) patie nts had multisegmental distributions. Colonic wall thickening had a statist ically significant association with Child-Pugh grades A. B, and C (p < 0.00 01), presence of ascites (p < 0.0004), splenic volume index (p = 0.0026), v arices score (p < 0.0001), and serum albumin levels (p = 0.0364). The segme ntal distribution of wall thickening significantly correlated with Child-Pu gh grades A, B, and C (p = 0.0005), presence of ascites (p < 0.001), varice s score (p < 0.0001), serum albumin levels (p < 0.0001), and splenic volume index (p = 0.0135). Conclusion: Colonic wall thickening occurs commonly in patients with vitall y induced cirrhosis. The presence and number of colonic wall thickening wer e correlated with the grading of the severity of cirrhosis.