# Clinical characteristics of dysplasia in UC and the correlation between dysplasia and UC recurrence

## TL;DR

This study identifies factors linked to dysplasia in ulcerative colitis patients and finds that dysplasia is associated with higher recurrence rates.

## Contribution

The study establishes novel correlations between dysplasia and UC recurrence, identifying specific clinical indicators as risk factors.

## Key findings

- Dysplasia in UC patients is associated with higher recurrence rates and distinct clinical features like bowel wall thickening.
- Factors like disease severity, lesion extent, and fecal calprotectin levels are independently linked to dysplasia occurrence.
- Dysplasia grade and disease activity are positively correlated with UC recurrence frequency.

## Abstract

This research aims to identify the main influencing factors for dysplasia in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and explored the correlation between dysplasia and the recurrence frequency of UC.

This study retrospectively included 348 UC patients from the outpatient clinic of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University between December 2021 and December 2023 as the research subjects. The UC patients were divided into the dysplasia group and the non-dysplasia group based on pathological results. The general data and clinical data of the two groups were compared, and the typical computed tomography enterography (CTE) imaging features of the patients in the dysplasia group were explored. The main influencing factors for the occurrence of dysplasia in patients were screened using the univariate logistic regression analysis method and the ridge regression analysis method. All the follow-up data of the research subjects were complete, the recurrence situations of UC in the two groups were compared. The correlation between dysplasia and the recurrence frequency of UC was analysed using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient.

This study found that there were statistically significant differences in indicators such as disease classification, disease severity, lesion extent, disease activity degree, and faecal calprotectin (FC) level between the two groups of patients. Patients with dysplasia presented usually with CTE imaging features of mesenteric lymphadenopathy, mucosal abnormal enhancement, and bowel wall thickening. Univariate logistic regression revealed that the above indicators were influencing factors for dysplasia in UC patients (P < 0.05). Collinearity test and ridge regression analysis showed that chronic continuous type/acute fulminant type disease classification, severe disease severity, E3 lesion range, moderately active stage/severely active stage of disease activity degree, and high FC level would increase the possibility of dysplasia (P < 0.05). The recurrence rate of UC diseases in the dysplasia group was higher than that in the non-dysplasia group, and recurrence types were also different (P < 0.05). Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated that the grade of dysplasia, disease severity, lesion range, and degree of disease activity were positively correlated with recurrence frequency of UC (P < 0.05).

Disease classification, disease severity, lesion extent, disease activity degree, and FC were independently correlated with occurrence of dysplasia in UC patients. Moreover, dysplasia increased the probability of patient recurrence. The grade of dysplasia and related influencing factors showed a positive correlation with the recurrence frequency of UC.