Table 1.

NICE classification summary^a

Characteristic	Type 1	Type 2b	Type 3
Color	Same or lighter than background	Browner relative to background (verify color arises from vessels)	Brown to dark brown relative to background; sometimes patchy whiter areas
Vessels	None, or isolated, lacy vessels coursing across the lesion may be present	Brown vessels surrounding white structuresc	Area(s) of disrupted or missing vessels
Surface pattern	Dark or white spots of uniform size, or homogeneous absence of pattern	Oval, tubular, or branched white structures surrounded by brown vessels	Amorphous or absent
Most likely pathology	Hyperplastic	Adenoma	Deep submucosal invasive cancer

Notes:

^aCan be applied using colonoscopes with or without optical (zoom) magnification capability;

^bType 2 consists of Vienna classification types 3, 4, and superficial 5 (all adenomas with either low- or high-grade dysplasia, or with superficial submucosal carcinoma). The presence of high-grade dysplasia or superficial submucosal carcinoma may be suggested by an irregular vessel or surface pattern and is often associated with atypical morphology (eg, depressed area);

^cthese structures (regular or irregular) may represent the pits and the epithelium of the crypt opening.

Abbreviation: NICE, Narrow-band imaging International Colorectal Endoscopic.