Escherichia coli O157:H7-associated hemolytic-uremic syndrome: value of colonic color Doppler sonography.

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome associated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 presents with a gastrointestinal prodrome. During this prodrome the disease may be difficult to differentiate from acute colitis and other hemorrhagic gastrointestinal diseases. We have found that color Doppler sonography in patients with E. coli-associated hemolytic-uremic syndrome of the colon demonstrates a strikingly avascular, thick-walled colon. In the correct clinical setting, this finding should allow a diagnosis during the prodromal phase.