The intramucosal cysts of the stomach. II. Late glandular changes after partial gastrectomy.

Micrometric determinations of the diameter of the gastric glands, of the linear distance between those glands, and of the number of chronic inflammatory cells were performed on gastric biopsies from 71 patients. Forty of the patients had been operated on with a Billroth II and 12 with a Billroth I gastrectomy 5-45 years previously. The mean diameter of the gastric glands was significantly larger for patients with a Billroth II gastrectomy than for those of the Billroth I group or for non-operated control patients with chronic gastritis. The difference was marked for Billroth II patients operated on 26 or more years previously. Contrariwise, the linear distance between glands was significantly smaller in Billroth II patients than in the other two groups. The number of inflammatory cells was somewhat lower in biopsies from operated patients than in controls. The significance and pathogenesis of dilated gastric glands in long-time Billroth-II-gastrectomized patients (a high-risk group for cancer development in the gastric stump) is discussed.