pubmed-article:2089365 | pubmed:abstractText | Computed Tomography (CT) provides a noninvasive information in the evaluation of abnormalities of the gastrointestinal tract by direct imaging of the bowel wall and adjacent mesentery. Several prior studies have discussed the variable CT appearances of mesenteric abnormalities, such as lymphoma, metastasis, inflammatory disease and edema. Although mesenteric thickening was mentioned in these studies, no study has provided a detailed analysis of the CT appearance of the thickened mesentery. Two characteristic types of mesenteric thickening were identified in 47 patients. Type I is "Intra-mesenteric thickening", which was noted in 25 patients with vascular obstruction, inflammatory disease and edema. Type II is "Mesenteric surface thickening", which was noted in 22 patients with peritonitis carcinomatosa, peritoneal mesothelioma, tuberculous peritonitis and pseudomyxoma peritoneal. An understanding of these two types of mesenteric disease is important in the identification of mesenteric pathology. | lld:pubmed |