Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) and prognostic signs at CT: reperfusion or not reperfusion that is the question!

Purpose: Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) is a misdiagnosed and dangerous condition. To our knowledge, a comprehensive evaluation of CT parameters that can predict the outcome of patients suffering from NOMI is still missing. Materials and methods: Contrast-enhanced CT examination of 84 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of NOMI (37 with clinical and laboratory confirmation and 47 biopsy or surgery proven) was retrospectively reviewed by assessing vessels, mesentery, bowel, and peritoneal cavity CT quantitative and dichotomous parameters, and data were analyzed with Fisher’s test. Diameter of superior mesenteric artery (SMA), celiac trunk (CT), inferior vena cava (IVC), superior mesenteric vein (SMV), and differences in CT HU (Delta HU) of the bowel wall before and after intravenous contrast media (ICM) administration were correlated to the patients’ outcome using ANOVA test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were elaborated after a binary logistic regression was performed. Results: Increased number and diameter of vessels, bowel wall thickening, and hypervascularity were more frequent in patients with good prognosis. Conversely, pale mesentery, paper thin, hypovascularity, and aeroportia were more frequent in patients with bad prognosis. A significant correlation between diameters of SMA, CT, IVC, IMA, and SMV and outcome was found at univariate analysis. Also Delta HU resulted to be correlated with the outcome. At multivariate analysis only IVC and Delta HU were significant (p = 0.038 and 0.01) and the combined AUC resulted in 0.806 (CI 0.708–0.903). Conclusion: Dichotomous signs of reperfusion and quantitative CT parameters can predict the outcome of patients with NOMI. In particular the combination of IVC diameter and Delta HU of bowel wall allows to predict the prognosis with the highest accuracy. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.