Background: Sclerosing mesenteritis (SM) is sometimes used as an umbrella-term for idiopathic inflammatory\nconditions in the mesentery. Mesenteric panniculitis (MP) is a radiological finding and its relation to clinical\nSM is not fully understood. The aims of this study were to determine whether any correlation could be found\nbetween the radiological findings and the clinical disease course.\nMethods: Patients observed due to idiopathic inflammation of the mesentery were identified. If SM could be\nverified histologically or MP radiologically, the patients were included in this descriptive retro perspective study.\nResults: Typical radiological changes were observed in 27 patients. A majority (23/27) of these patients had mild to\nmoderate symptoms. This group with typical radiology was labelled MP. Four patients were included due to\nhistologically verified disease but had uncharacteristic radiology involving multiple compartments of the abdomen. All\nfour had marked systemic inflammation, fever and fluctuating radiologic findings. Three had severe disease with\nmultiple hospitalisations and complications but responded promptly to corticosteroids. This group was denoted SM.\nConclusions: We have identified two subgroups of patients; firstly, MP with stable and characteristic radiologic\nchanges and secondly SM with atypical radiology and a more aggressive clinical course. We propose that the\nterm SM should be reserved for this latter condition.
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