PMID: 9529671Apr 8, 1998Paper

Endoanal magnetic resonance imaging

Acta Gastro-enterologica Belgica
Jaap Stoker, J S Laméris

Abstract

To review the results of endoanal magnetic resonance imaging (MR) in patients with anal sphincter defects and anal fistulas. Normal volunteers, patients with faecal incontinence, and patients with perianal fistulas were studied. Endoanal MRI was performed with a rigid, endoluminal anal coli with a diameter of 19 mm. An axial T2-weighted gradient echo and sagittal, coronal and radial T2-weighted turbo spin-echo sequence were performed. Normal anatomy. The most important finding was that the outer part of the anal sphincter complex is caudally the external sphincter, while the upper part is the puborectal muscle. This is in contrast to previous anatomical and surgical studies. Our findings concerning the internal sphincter and longitudinal muscle are not very different from previous studies. The internal sphincter is the inner part of the anal sphincter, surrounded by the intersphincteric space with the longitudinal layer. SPHINCTER DEFECTS: Especially the external sphincter is more clearly and consistently demonstrated with MRI than with endoanal sonography. In our experience so far, the results of endoanal sonography and MRI are approximately comparable for internal sphincter defects, but MRI is superior in the detection of ext...Continue Reading

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