[Quantitative microscopic characteristics of cardial glands in in the human esophagus in postnatal ontogenesis]

Microscopical investigation of oesophagus, obtained from corpses of 33 men and 33 women has been carried out (staining with hematoxylin and eosin, van Gieson). The cardial glands have been revealed in 92.4% of cases in the inferior and in 4.6% of cases in the superior third of the oesophageal wall. They have not been revealed in the superior third of the oesophageal wall. They have not been revealed in its medial third. Amount of acini in the section is essentially changeable. In elderly and old persons the ducts of the glands often form ampullar dilatations. The acinar areas on the section remain stable during the greatest++ period of the postnatal ontogenesis and only during old age they decrease slightly. The proper plate of the mucous membrane in the inferior part of the oesophagus in the zone, where the cardial glands are situated, is always thicker than in the area free from the acini. Close interrelations have been revealed between the cardial glands and lymphoid tissue of the oesophageal wall. The intensity of the glandular-lymphoid interrelations is insignificant in newborns and in children of suckling age. It is maximal in persons of mature and elderly age. Remaining at a sufficiently high level, the glandular-lymphoid associations in old persons are manifested in a less degree than in the previous age groups. No difference in organization of the cardial glands has been revealed in the superior and inferior parts of the oesophageal wall, as well as any sex peculiarities.