Comparative light microscopical and X-ray microanalysis study of barium granuloma.

A barium granuloma occurring in the gastric wall was examined by various light microscopical methods and with the scanning electron microscope in association with an energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer. Barium sulphate is present in the form of a slightly granular, yellowish and greenish substance within the cytoplasm of macrophages, and shows no birefringence. Needle-shaped and rhomboid birefringent crystals are rich in magnesium and silicon, and most probably present talc crystals, one of the admixtures in common commercial preparations used for contrast x-ray examination of the gastrointestinal tract, rather than crystals of barium sulphate proper as erroneously interpreted in the literature.