Relationship between MRI quantified small bowel motility and abdominal symptoms in Crohn’s disease patients—a validation study

OBJECTIVE: Previous single-centre MRI data suggests an inverse correlation between normal small bowel motility variance and abdominal symptoms in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. The current work prospectively assesses this observation in a larger, two-centre study. METHODS: MR enterography datasets were analysed from 82 patients (38 male, aged 16–68), who completed a contemporaneous Harvey-Bradshaw index (HBI) questionnaire. Dynamic “cine motility” breath-hold balanced steady-state free precession sequences were acquired through the whole small bowel (SB) volume. Regions of interest (ROIs) were manually applied to encompass all morphologically normal SB (i.e. excluding Crohn’s affected bowel) and a validated registration technique used to produce motility maps. Mean and variance motility metrics were correlated with HBI and symptom components (well-being, pain and diarrhoea) using Spearman’s correlation statistics. RESULTS: Overall, motility variance was non-significantly negatively correlated with the total HBI score, (r = −0.17, p = 0.12), but for subjects with a HBI score over 10, the negative correlation was significant (r = −0.633, p = 0.027). Motility variance was negatively correlated with diarrhoea (r = −0.29, p < 0.01). No significant correlation was found between mean motility and HBI (r = −0.02, p = 0.84). CONCLUSION: An inverse association between morphologically normal small bowel motility variance and patient symptoms has been prospectively confirmed in patients with HBI scores above 10. This association is particularly apparent for the symptom of diarrhoea. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study builds on preliminary work by confirming in a large, well-controlled prospective multicentre study a relationship between normal bowel motility variance and patient reported symptoms which may have implications for drug development and clinical management.