[Ultrasonographic study of the gastric wall]

Ultrasonographically, the normal gastric wall is delineated in 5 layers, 2 hypoechoic layers and 3 hyperechoic layers. To elucidate the sources of the reflected ultrasonic picture above, we infused India ink into the ultrasonographic wall of the resected human stomach. After the ultrasonographic examination, each stomach was examined histologically, and findings were compared with those of ultrasonography. The results were as follows: Ultrasonographically, an irregular hypoechoic nodule was seen in the 3rd layer, i.e., the middle hyperechoic layer, in cases in which India ink was seen in the submucosal layer histologically. Namely, the ultrasonographic 3rd layer was considered to be consistent with the submucosal layer.