[Correspondence] Clinical remission in ulcerative colitis: restoring precision in trial terminology

The term remission is a fundamental descriptor of therapeutic success in clinical medicine, denoting the abatement of symptoms and a return towards normal function. In ulcerative colitis, the term clinical remission can be traced back to the first modern randomised controlled trial in gastroenterology, the landmark cortisone versus placebo study, in which remission was defined strictly by symptom resolution.1 Endoscopic disease activity was reported separately, indicating early recognition that these outcomes represent separate dimensions of disease control.