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Functional Testing in the Diagnosis of Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia

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Mesenteric Vascular Disease

Abstract

Chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) is a diagnostic challenge. There is no single, simple test with high sensitivity and specificity to diagnose or exclude this condition. In the previous years, functional tests such as tonometry and visible light spectroscopy (VLS) have been developed and incorporated in the standard work-up to optimize the diagnosis of CMI in patients with chronic abdominal symptoms. Both methods seem to be accurate for detection of mesenteric ischemia in combination with radiological imaging; however VLS during endoscopy is considerably more patient-friendly and less time consuming than tonometry. The current established approach for diagnosing CMI includes assessment of medical history and clinical symptoms, radiological imaging of the mesenteric arteries, and detection of mucosal ischemia by means of a functional test.

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Harki, J., Tjwa, E.T.T.L., van Noord, D. (2015). Functional Testing in the Diagnosis of Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia. In: Oderich, G. (eds) Mesenteric Vascular Disease. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1847-8_6

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