Comparison of jejunal mucosa in post-gastrectomy states, idiopathic steatorrhoea, and controls using the dissecting microscope and conventional histological methods

EDITORIAL SYNOPSIS Jejunal biopsies from 24 patients with various post-gastrectomy states were compared with those from control patients and patients with idiopathic steatorrhoea.Minor histological changes, such as shortening and thickening of the villi, were frequently encountered in the control subjects, but the dissecting microscope showed that these were related to variations in villous shape.Similar changes in the villi were found in the post-gastrectomy patients, leaf-shaped villi and ridge formation being more common than was thought.in villous structure has been assessed.