Figure 3.

Dysplasia-associated lesional mass in long-standing ulcerative colitis. Image of colonic mucosa evidencing the switch from the inflamed mucosa, to the neoplastic mucosa. Inflamed mucosa is characterized by crypts fusion and distortion, dilation of crypt openings, enlarged spaces between crypts, and microvascular alterations with fluorescein leaks into the crypt lumen. Dysplastic mucosa (right corner) is characterized by “dark” cells, irregular architectural patterns with villiform structures and a “dark” epithelial border.