title: Clarity and caution in the natural history of low-grade dysplasia in ulcerative colitis.
abstract: A substantial body of evidence supports the safety of conservative endoscopic polypectomy for discrete, adenomatous-appearing colonic polyps in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Much less is known about the clinicopathologic factors of low-grade dysplastic lesions at risk for subsequent high-grade dysplasia or colorectal cancer. In this issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Choi et al. examine the outcome of patients with low-grade dysplasia participating in a surveillance cohort at St Mark's Hospital, one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind. Long-term follow-up of many, well-phenotyped, low-grade dysplasia cases sheds new light, and raises new questions, on our UC surveillance practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kisiel
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Edward V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Loftus
mesh_terms: D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000473:pathology*; D003106:Colon / Q000473:pathology*; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000473:pathology*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male