Microvascular architecture of the mucosa of the gastric corpus in man.

Vascular casts of human gastric mucosa of the corpus area were studied by scanning electron microscopy and compared with vertical and horizontal series of semithin sections of perfusion-fixed corpus mucosa. The submucosal arteries give off short and long arterioles. The short arterioles branch into a basal capillary network reaching from the basis to the isthmus of the gastric glands. The long arterioles pass through the lamina propria without ramifications and supply a second, apical capillary layer reaching from the base to the top of the gastric pits. Anastomoses connect both capillary layers. Dense, convoluted capillaries at the mucosal surface encircle the gastric pits. Both capillary layers drain into venules at the level of the gastric pits. Below, on their way to the submucosal plexus, the venules do not receive any further capillary tributaries. In the examined tissue no arteriovenous anastomoses could be identified. A microvascular architecture with two capillary layers is presented, which guarantees a luxurious oxygenation throughout all layers of the gastric corpus mucosa in man. These findings are in contrast to previous descriptions of human corpus mucosa, where only one capillary layer, reaching from the base to the top of the corpus mucosa, has been identified.