A model to evaluate mucosal flow in ulcerative colitis by laser Doppler flowmetry

Endoscopic laser-Doppler flowmetry was used to evaluate the mucosal skin blood flow in the terminal part of the sigmoid colon in 7 patients with ulcerative colitis and in 8 normals subjects. In total, 229 observations were made. A MUSK (mucosal-skin blood) flow index was obtained that was able to differentiate the normal from abnormal mucosa and areas with different endoscopic characteristics.