ESSENTIALS
-Many patients with inflammatory or infectious types of colitis present with abdominal pain, and multidetector CT is often used as the initial diagnostic test.
-CT can accurately depict the bowel wall and help determine the presence and extent of intramural disease, its possible extraluminal extension, and involvement of distant sites.
-Many imaging features or patterns are helpful in distinguishing the various types of colitis, including degree of wall thickening, extent and location of disease, extraluminal manifestations, and types of complication.
-While imaging features can help narrow the differential diagnosis or suggest a specific diagnosis, the final diagnosis is often based on clinical and laboratory data and colonoscopic and biopsy findings.

radiology.rsna.org/content/240/3/623.full