Microscopic heterogeneity in ulcerative colitis: implications for microscopic measurement of disease activity

Growing interest in histological measurements of inflammatory  activity to determine therapeutic efficacy and endpoints in IBD has been accompanied by progress in developing and validating scoring instruments for this purpose.1–5 Four histological grading instruments, the Geboes score, Nancy index, Robarts Histological Index (RHI) and modified Riley score, have recently demonstrated responsiveness to clinical changes based on data from a phase II trial of ozanimod.6 Further refinement of the operating characteristics of these instruments and definition of threshold values for remission can be expected.7

Less attention has been given to pre-analytical factors which might affect the histological assessment of disease activity and the definition of therapeutic endpoints, such as biopsy sampling density and target selection. Clinical consensus guidelines have thus far provided only empirical guidance. The European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) guidelines for initial IBD diagnosis recommend two...

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