Assessment profiles of disease severity in ulcerative colitis

There is no general agreement as to which activity profile or activity is preferable for the clinical assessment of ulcerative colitis. Examples of qualitative and quantitative indices are given. Most of the latter include clinical data, macroscopic evaluation at endoscopy and histological grading of inflammation. It is proposed that the activity of the disease, reflected by the patient's symptoms, might be the determinant of the treatment, and the severity of the disease, defined by objective means, could be assessed in scientific evaluation.