Narrow-band imaging endoscopy to assess mucosal angiogenesis in inflammatory bowel disease: A pilot study

Figure 2 Inflamed colonic mucosa of IBD patients visualized using white light colonoscopy and NBI. The microvasculature of IBD inflamed colonic mucosa was immunohistochemically stained for CD31 and von Willebrand/factor VIII. A: Areas of the IBD mucosa that were inflamed on white light colonoscopy showing an aberrant NBI+ pattern. There was increased vascularization in the inflamed IBD mucosa in areas where there was an aberrant NBI+ pattern, which was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining; B: Areas of the IBD mucosa that were not inflamed on conventional colonoscopy and showed an aberrant NBI+ pattern. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed an increased vascularization in these areas compared with NBI- areas; C: Computerized morphometric analysis of the microvasculature in the IBD inflamed mucosa. After immunohistochemical staining, sections were analyzed for the total number of vessels/field (microvascular density). ^aA statistically significant difference was found between sections from areas of inflamed IBD colonic mucosa that were NBI+ and areas of uninflamed IBD mucosa that were normal under white light colonoscopy but were NBI+ .