[Quantification of the three-dimensional structure of jejunal mucosa in healthy subjects and patients with coeliac disease (author's transl)].

Jejunal biopsies of 10 normal subjects and 7 patients with coeliac disease were analysed quantitatively using the microdissection technique described by Clarke. Mucosal surface in the healthy upper jejunum was increased 8.3 +/- 1.1 times, the number of villi per mm2 intestine being 18.2 +/- 2.1. The ratio of the number of crypts per villi was 10.7 +/- 2.3. Mucosal transformation in coeliac disease was associated with a decrease in villi and crypts per mm2 intestine as well as in mucosal surface and an increase in crypt depth and number of mitotic figures per crypt. There was a highly significant linear correlation between villous height and mucosal surface per mm2 intestine (r = 0.93).