Intestinal ultrasound activity in ulcerative colitis.
UCImagingValidated score
Clinical indication
Disease activity in ulcerative colitis on intestinal ultrasound, from bowel wall thickness and colour Doppler signal, as a non-invasive alternative to repeat endoscopy for monitoring.
What is scored
The calculator collects 2 items:
Bowel Wall Thickness
Bowel wall flow on colour Doppler
Any item left blank stops the score being calculated — an incomplete form never reports as remission.
Interpretation
≤ 6.2
Inactive
> 6.2
Active
Bands as implemented in IBD Care. A band is a description of the score, not an instruction.
Limitations
Operator-dependent and requires specific training in intestinal ultrasound. The rectum is not reliably assessed by transabdominal ultrasound, which matters in a disease that starts there. The >6.2 threshold was derived and externally validated in small single-centre cohorts.
References
Allocca M, Fiorino G, Bonovas S, Furfaro F, Gilardi D, Argollo M, et al. Accuracy of Humanitas Ultrasound Criteria in Assessing Disease Activity and Severity in Ulcerative Colitis: A Prospective Study. J Crohns Colitis 2018;12:1385-91. PMID 30085066. doi:10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjy107
Allocca M, Filippi E, Costantino A, Bonovas S, Fiorino G, Furfaro F, et al. Milan ultrasound criteria are accurate in assessing disease activity in ulcerative colitis: external validation. United European Gastroenterol J 2021;9:438-42. PMID 33349199. doi:10.1177/2050640620980203
The criteria were first published under the name Humanitas Ultrasound Criteria and renamed Milan Ultrasound Criteria in the external validation, which confirmed the >6.2 threshold.
Content last reviewed 2026-10-10. References were resolved against PubMed, a service of the US National Library of Medicine, which does not endorse this site.
Use the calculator
Milan Ultrasound Criteria is implemented as an interactive calculator in IBD Care, with its full guidance and scoring bands.