Table 4 Relationship of C reactive protein (CRP) to radiological findings of Crohn's disease in 97 patients, for three different comparisons, with classification schemes based on the presence or absence of inflammation in the perienteric tissues or confined to the small bowel wall.
| Classification scheme | Descriptive statistics reporting CRP values among patients in three classification schemes | Results of polychotomous logistic regression, considering log [CRP] as predictor | Proportion of patients with Rutgeerts' score of 0 or 1 (out of 5) (% (ratio)) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRP (median (min, max)) | CRP (mean (SD)) | 2 degree of freedom tests of association with log [CRP] | OR (95% CI)† | ||
| Perienteric inflammation v only mural inflammation or no inflammation | |||||
| Comb+ (n = 29) | 0.58 (0.02,10.30) | 1.67 (2.57) | 0.07* | 1.0 (ref)* | 41% (12/29) |
| CT mural+ comb− (n = 45) | 0.27 (0.02,23.70) | 1.28 (3.59) | 0.5 (0.2,0.9)* | 71% (32/45) | |
| CT mural− comb− (n = 23) | 0.31 (0.02,5.07) | 0.70 (1.09) | 0.5 (0.2,1.0) | 91% (21/23) | |
| Perienteric inflammation v only mural inflammation or no inflammation | |||||
| Increased fat density+ (n = 22) | 0.96 (0.11,23.70) | 2.66 (5.16) | 0.005‡ | 1.0 (ref)‡ | 45% (10/22) |
| CT mural+ increased fat density− (n = 51) | 0.23 (0.02,10.30) | 0.93 (1.72) | 0.3 (0.1,0.6)‡ | 67% (34/51) | |
| CT mural− increased fat density− (n = 24) | 0.28 (0.02,5.07) | 0.68 (1.07) | 0.3 (0.1,0.7) | 88% (21/24) | |
| No inflammation v mural inflammation without perienteric inflammation | |||||
| CT mural− endoscopy− (n = 16) | 0.24 (0.02,5.07) | 0.73 (1.26) | 0.38 | 1.0 (ref) | 100% (16/16) |
| CT mural+ endoscopy + increased fat density− comb sign− (N = 16) | 0.36 (0.02,3.41) | 0.78 (0.96) | 1.2 (0.4 −3.1) | 31% (5/16) | |
| All other combinations (n = 65) | 0.40 (1.51,3.40) | 1.51 (3.40) | 1.6 (0.8,3.5) | 68% (44/65) | |
*For one way comparison of patients with a positive comb sign relative to those with mural hyperenhancement and no comb sign, p = 0.03.
†95% confidence interval (CI) not containing the value 1 indicates significant association with log CRP unadjusted for multiple comparison; OR, odds ratio.
‡For one way comparison of patients with increased fat density relative to those with mural enhancement and normal fat density, p = 0.002.
CT mural+, computed tomography finding of segmental mural hyperenhancement; CT mural−, absence of CT finding of mural hyperenhancement; comb+, CT findings of engorged vasa recta; comb−, normal appearance of perienteric vasculature; increased fat density+, CT findings of oedema/stranding in perienteric fat; increased fat density−, normal appearance of perienteric fat; endoscopy+, endoscopic findings of active Crohn's disease, as outlined in materials and methods; endoscopy−, absence of endoscopic findings of active Crohn's disease.