Mayo Clinic develops Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new way to assess a common cause of chronic diarrhea, microscopic colitis, using the Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index. A study describing the index was released today during the American College of Gastroenterology 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course in Washington. The index provides a consistent way to assess the condition's severity.

"Until now, physicians have not had a way to objectively and consistently score the severity of a patient's disease beyond simply counting the number of bowel movements per day," says author Darrell Pardi, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. The assessment also accounts for symptoms other than diarrhea, such as abdominal pain, urgency, and incontinence.

"This assessment is a significant step forward, as it correlates a patient's symptoms with the physicians' understanding of the severity of microscopic colitis," Dr. Pardi says. Using the assessment index in future studies, researchers will more easily compare treatments for this condition.