The venous anatomy of the lower oesophagus in normal subjects and in patients with varices: An image analysis study
- 1 October 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in British Journal of Surgery
- Vol. 71 (10), 739-744
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.1800711002
Abstract
The microvasculature of the lower oesophagus has been studied quantitatively using a computer assisted image analysis system. Twenty normal specimens of oesophagus and stomach were studied and seven further specimens from patients with varices were also assessed. Each specimen could be clearly subdivided into three zones. Zone 1 was the stomach where the mean relative area occupied by veins in the lamina propria was 2.6 per cent (s.e.m. ±0.2) in the normal subjects and 3.7 per cent (s.e.m. ±0.8) in the variceal specimens. Zone 2 began at the oesophagogastric junction and extended 2–5 cm into the lower oesophagus. The mean area occupied by veins in the lamina propria increased to 19.8 per cent (s.e.m. ±1.2) in the normal and 32.8 per cent (s.e.m. ±3.9) in the varices specimens. Zone 3 was the remainder of the proximal oesophagus and the mean area occupied by veins in the lamina propria was 4.9 per cent (s.e.m. ±0.3) in the normal and 6.1 per cent (s.e.m. ±0.5) in the varices specimens. Further analysis revealed that this increase in area occupied by veins in the distal oesophagus was due to an increase in both the number and size of vessels in the lamina propria of Zone 2. These findings may explain the propensity for oesophageal varices to bleed mainly from the distal oesophagus.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- A comparative study of nuclear form factor, area and diameter in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and reactive lymph nodes.Journal of Clinical Pathology, 1983
- Quantitative analyses of ultrastructure and vascularization of the slow muscle fibres of the anchovyTissue and Cell, 1982
- A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF AGE‐RELATED CHANGES IN THE VASCULAR ARCHITECTURE OF THE RAT CEREBRAL CORTEXNeuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 1981
- Detection of suspicious cells and rejection of artefacts in cervical cytology using the Leyden Television Analysis System.Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, 1979
- Cell counting in the human brain: traditional and electronic methodsPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,1975
- Cell counts in the human cerebral cortex using a traditional and an automatic methodJournal of the Neurological Sciences, 1975
- SUR L’ANGIO-ARCHITECTURE VEINEUSE DE LA ZONE DE TRANSITION OESOPHAGO-GASTRIQUE ET SON INTERPRÉTATION FONCTIONNELLECells Tissues Organs, 1966
- Treatment of Oesophageal Varices in Portal Hypertension by Means of Sclerosing InjectionsBMJ, 1955
- The Veins of the OesophagusThorax, 1951
- Fatal Haematemesis, From Oesophageal Varices, in Presence of Large Portal-Caval AnastomosisBMJ, 1951