Histopathologic study on development and extension of atrophic change in the gastric mucosa.

A histopathologic study was carried out on 30 resected stomachs with various gastric or duodenal diseases. Both the pyloric gland cells and the parietal cells were counted in serial sections of the surgically resected stomach. A good correlation (p less than 0.001) was found between the number of pyloric gland cells and parietal cells. The number of both glandular cells was greatest on the greater curvature and fewest at the part closer to the antrofundic mucosal border on the lesser curvature. In addition, a fairly uniform pattern was observed in the distribution of the parietal cells. The maximum density area of parietal cells was centered on the greater curvature of the stomach body, and this density decreased concentrically in proportion to the distance from the center. This uniform pattern was seen in almost all specimens, with or without atrophic change in the gastric mucosa. These results suggest that atrophic change does not develop in a particular part of the stomach but wholly and equally in the gastric mucosa.