Comparison of diagnostic accuracy between linked color imaging and autofluorescence imaging in patients with ulcerative colitis: A prospective observational study

Background and Aim Image enhancement endoscopy techniques, such as linked color imaging (LCI) and autofluorescence imaging (AFI), have shown promise in diagnosing mucosal inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, no studies have directly compared the diagnostic efficacy of LCI and AFI. This prospective observational study aimed to compare their diagnostic accuracy for histological healing in UC. Methods This study included 81 UC patients, resulting in a total of 204 endoscopic images captured using LCI and AFI, respectively. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients assessed the correlation between LCI and AFI coloration and Geboes histopathology score (GHS). Six endoscopists, who were blinded to clinicopathological features, evaluated these images, and subsequently, the diagnostic accuracy was evaluated. Results Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between LCI index, AFI index (reverse gamma value), and GHS were 0.324 and −0.428, respectively (P