Histopathological investigation of duplications of the alimentary tract.

Lack of information on the morbid anatomy of duplications of the alimentary tract stimulated an evaluation of patients with such duplications seen at the Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, from 1970 to 1984. There were 14 patients in all, involving 2 foregut, 6 midgut, and 4 hindgut duplications. Resected material of 12 of these patients has been investigated with particular emphasis on the presence of nervous tissue in these duplications. Routine histological as well as histochemical staining procedures have revealed nervous tissue in practically all duplications investigated. Considering the findings reported in the literature with reference to the earliest manifestation of nerve cells throughout the alimentary tract, the results demonstrate that duplications occur well before the 12th week of gestation.