Development and validation of a scoring for in vivo differentiation of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease by using confocal laser endomicroscopy

Background: Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) allows on demand in vivo characterization of architectural and cellular tissue details during endoscopy. Recent evidence has shown that CLE can detect Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) associated histological changes in vivo. Aim: Prospective assessment of CLE for in vivo differentiation of IBD by development of a unique CLE scoring system based on histopathological hallmarks of colonic IBD involvement. Methods: Consecutive patients with a well-established diagnosis of UC and CD underwent colonoscopy with fluoresceine-aided CLE. In addition, biopsies…