Branching crypts in inflammatory bowel disease revisited

Histologic sections from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) usually exhibit crypts with architectural distortions and branching crypts. It has been postulated that crypt branching should be assessed only in well-oriented, upright crypts. However, those crypts are mostly found in sections from colectomy specimens and colon mucosectomies. Sections from endoscopic biopsies are fortuitously cut in a horizontal plane, a procedure mostly...