One of the main challenges for clinicians dealing with Crohn's disease (CD) is to
distinguish between inflammation and fibrosis, two sequential steps in the
evolution of the intestinal disease. While inflammation is amenable to medical
treatment, stricturing disease can only benefit from surgery. Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) is a widely used tool in the diagnosis and assessment of CD. Recent
data suggest that this technique might help in discriminating between fibrosis
and inflammation and as such potentially guide medical decisions. In this review
we will first highlight the main diagnostic techniques for CD. We will then
briefly review the main mechanisms of fibrosis in this condition and the use of
MRI in CD focusing on findings predictive of fibrosis and fibrotic evolution.
