Evaluation of confocal laser endomicroscopy on pathological changes of intestinal mucosa repairing for patients with ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the advantages of confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) for function repairing of ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods Thirty patients with UC who were diagnosed and treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical College between July 2014 and December 2016 were enrolled in the study group. The control group consisted of 10 patients who were diagnosed as having colonic polyps with colonoscopy and underwent polypectomy in the same period. Both groups were examined with white light endoscopy and CLE, then the fluorescein leakage score was compared. Results There were 10 out of 30 cases in the study group whose whole intestinal mucosa were judged as normal under white light endoscopy. In the other 20 cases, there were parts of intestinal mucosa being judged as abnormal. All of the 10 cases in the control group were with normal colon mucosa. There was a significant difference on fluorescein leakage score by CLE between the study group which showed normal by white light endoscopy and the control group (P 0.05). Conclusion In the process of mucosal healing of UC patients, structural repair can be found firstly through CLE. Mucosal healing under white light endoscopy cannot represent the functional recovery. CLE is more effective than the histopathology in the evaluation of mucosal barrier function. Key words: Colitis, ulcerative; Endoscopy; Fluoresceins; Confocal laser endomicroscopy; Mucosal healing