A quantitative study on the myenteric plexus of the distal end of the human esophagus.

The densities of ganglia and nerve cells in the myenteric plexus of the last distal 11 cm of the human esophagus were determined in 6 esophagi from autopsy material. The densities of ganglia and nerve cells in cresyl violet-stained stretch preparations of 11 esophageal segments, each 1 cm in length, were compared. The highest values were recorded in segments 4, 5, and 6 cm above cardiac incisura. The lowest densities of ganglia and nerve cells were found in segments 1, 2, and 3 cm above the cardiac incisura. The segments contained 659 to 3,316 perikarya/cm2 and 31 to 110 ganglia/cm2; ganglia contained 3 to 310 cells.