Abstract:

The knowledge of development of stomach including effective gastric emptying, and motor functions is essential for the provision of optimal nutritional care of the very preterm infant. The generation of functional neuromuscular activity within the pre-natal gastrointestinal tract requires the coordinated development of enteric neurons and glial cells and concentric layers of smooth muscle1. Very few documented studies have been done on developing gastric musculature and nerve plexuses. There has long been divergent and sometimes conflicting views expressed about various aspects of the structure of the pylorus, the pathology of which is implicated in Infantile Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis2.

Hence, the microscopic structure and differentiation of human gastric musculature and nerve plexuses was studied in 53 aborted human fetuses of 10 to 31 weeks age under microscope and the differences between different age groups and with previous studies were compared. The study was conducted between 2008 to 2010, in the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College Aurangabad. Tissues from body and pyloric parts of the stomach were collected, processed, stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin, Masson’s Trichrome and Heidenhain’s Iron Haematoxylin stains and studied under light microscope. At 10 weeks, all the four structural layers of stomach were discernible. Muscularis mucosae was observed as a thin condensed layer at 13 weeks becoming thicker and wavy in later weeks. The muscularis externa showed circular and longitudinal muscle layers from 10th week, oblique layer being added from 16th week. The muscularis externa was thicker in pyloric region than in the body part in all specimens. Ganglia of myenteric (Aurbach’s) plexus were discernible since 13 weeks between circular and longitudinal muscle layers of muscularis externa with increase in their number, size and cellularity from 17 weeks onwards. However, no ganglion of submucosal (Meissener’s) plexus was observed in any specimen of either fundic or pyloric part.

Keywords: Gastric musculature, muscularis externa, myenteric ganglia, Pylorus

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