West Hertfordshire Inflammatory Bowel Disease Technology Study

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract that is without cure. It comprises two main disorders: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. These conditions can lead to debilitating symptoms of abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhoea and rectal bleeding. The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease is increasing worldwide and is increasingly considered an emerging global disease. The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease is currently the highest in North America and Western Europe and up to 600,000 people in the United Kingdom are thought to be affected. The diagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory bowel disease is based on clinical, endoscopic, radiological and histological features. Endoscopy, is considered the current gold standard in inflammatory bowel disease with newer techniques being developed. There are however limitations to these methods, especially regarding the inter and intra observer variability in assessing the validated scoring systems used from the gold standard modalities.