Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI): utility of measuring the diameters of the superior mesenteric artery and superior mesenteric vein at multidetector CT.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic capability of multidetector computed tomography for detecting non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI).
METHODS: We studied 11 NOMI patients and 44 controls. Radiologists evaluated the CT images for the presence of bowel ischemia and measured the diameters of the superior mesenteric artery and the superior mesenteric vein (D SMA and D SMV). We also performed linear discriminant analysis (LDA) using D SMA and D SMV.
RESULTS: All NOMI patients presented with more than 2 CT findings of bowel ischemia. D SMA and D SMV were significantly smaller in NOMI patients than in the controls (p < 0.01). At the optimal cut-off values for D SMA (6.5 mm), D SMV (9.0 mm), and the Z value in LDA (0.93), sensitivity and specificity were 81.8 and 81.8; 81.8 and 88.6; and 81.8 and 97.7 %, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: D SMA and D SMV were significantly smaller in NOMI patients than in the controls and D SMV is a more significant parameter than D SMA.