Endomicroscopic grade (Watson grade) for in vivo identification of local barrier dysfunction
| Cell shedding | Local barrier dysfunction | |
| I. Normal | Cell shedding confined to single cells per shedding site (eg, figure 1C or D) | None |
| II. Functional defect | Cell shedding confined to single cells per shedding site | Fluorescein signal visible in the intestinal lumen with an intensity the same or brighter than the epithelium or fluorescein plumes out of the epithelium into the lumen (eg, figure 2D) |
| III. Structural defect | Microerosions in any field. Microerosion is defined when the lamina propria is exposed to the lumen with multiple cells being shed per site (eg, figure 2E) | Fluorescein signal visible in the intestinal lumen with an intensity the same or brighter than the epithelium or fluorescein plumes out of the epithelium into the lumen (eg, figure 2E) |
See Material and methods.