Follow-Up of Ulcerative Colitis Patients Who Have Achieved Histological Normalization

The natural history of ulcerative colitis (UC) follows a relapsing and remitting course of inflammation and is accompanied by associated mucosal injury and historically, microscopic features of chronicity that were the sine qua non for the diagnosis.(1) As goals for the management of UC have evolved to include objectively measured endoscopic improvement of the mucosa, there also has been a move to include histological endpoints in assessment of disease activity.(2,3) However, there remain a number of unanswered questions about histology in UC and this is not yet a specific treatment goal.(4).