[A new look at colonic mucosal structural rearrangement and the stages of chronic colitis].

For the diagnosis of chronic colitis in IBD, it is mandatory to detect mucosal structural rearrangement. Stages 1 and 2 are characterized by early structural changes in the mucous membrane, whereas the process becomes irreversible at Stage 3. The identification of colitis stages is of diagnostic and, undoubtedly, prognostic value.