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The esophagus: Normal ultrastructure and pathological patterns

  • Chapter
Ultrastructure of the Digestive Tract

Part of the book series: Electron Microscopy in Biology and Medicine ((EMBM,volume 4))

Abstract

The esophageal wall is composed of the tissular layers common to the digestive tube in general: the mucous membrane (tunica mucosa), the sub-mucosa (tunica submucosa), the muscularis externa (tunica muscularis), and the adventitia-serosa (tunica adventitia-serosa). A remarkable deviating histology, however, reflects the specific functions of the esophagus in comparison with the more distal gastrointestinal tract. The mucous membrane is composed of an epithelial membrane, a supporting layer of connective tissue (the lamina propria), and a thin abluminal layer of smooth muscle (the muscularis mucosae). During embryonic development, the esophagus (unlike the rest of the digestive tube), has stepwise replaced the typical simple cylindrical epithelium of entodermal origin by a multilayered squamous epithelium. As a consequence, the luminal side of the esophagus is lined by a non-keratinizing stratified squamous epithelium, except for a short segment at the gastroesophageal junction lined by columnar epithelium.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Research, Laboratory of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, U.Z. St. Rafael K.U. Leuven,Minderbroedersstraat 12, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    K. Geboes

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  1. K. Geboes
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  2. J. Mebis
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  3. V. Desmet
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    P. M. Motta M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Anatomy, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan

    H. Fujita M.D.

  3. Department of Anatomy, University Medical School, Rome, Italy

    S. Correr Ph.D.

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© 1988 Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, Boston

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Geboes, K., Mebis, J., Desmet, V. (1988). The esophagus: Normal ultrastructure and pathological patterns. In: Motta, P.M., Fujita, H., Correr, S. (eds) Ultrastructure of the Digestive Tract. Electron Microscopy in Biology and Medicine, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2071-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2071-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9229-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2071-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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