Potential utility of a new ulcerative colitis segmental endoscopic index combining disease severity and the extent of inflammation.

Goal: To investigate the potential utility of a new scoring system, the Ulcerative Colitis Segmental Endoscopic Index (UCSEI), which combines measures of disease severity and extent of inflammation.

Background: Intestinal mucosal healing (MH) is a new therapeutic goal for ulcerative colitis (UC). Discontinuous lesions are common in UC and endoscopic observation of the entire colon is important.

Study: Patients with active mild-to-moderate UC received daily treatment with oral mesalazine (4 g/d) and mesalazine enemas (1 g/d) for 8 weeks. Endoscopic evaluations, using the UCSEI and Mayo Endoscopic Score (MES), were performed in 5 colonic segments at baseline and week 8. The UCSEI criteria included erythema, vascular pattern, friability, and erosion/ulcer. The sum of 5 subscores, determined for each segment, was calculated as the UCSEI. Disease activity was also assessed using the UC Disease Activity Index (UCDAI). MH was defined as MES=0 to 1.

Results: Of 58 patients, 51 completed the scheduled endoscopic evaluations. At week 8, the UCDAI score had significantly decreased from 6.63 (baseline) to 2.73 (P<0.001). The remission and MH rates were 35.3% and 55.3%, respectively. Segmental endoscopic evaluation, using UCSEI, showed that baseline inflammation tended to be more severe in the distal colon. The baseline UCSEI increased with the extent of disease, which was not seen in MES. Improvements in UCSEI were observed, even in the patients without decreases in the MES.

Conclusions: UCSEI, reflecting disease severity and extent of inflammation, provides useful information for UC management that is not available with MES.