From 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional: Overcoming dilemmas in intestinal mucosal interpretation

Author(s)
Charlesworth, Richard P G
Marsh, Michael N
Publication Date
2019-05-28
Abstract
The purpose of this review is to provide a definitive account of small intestinal mucosal structure and interpretation. The coeliac lesion has been well known, but not well described to date and this review aims to identify the interpretative difficulties which have arisen over time with the histological assessment of coeliac disease. In early coeliac interpretation, there were significant inaccuracies, particularly surrounding intraepithelial lymphocyte counts and the degree of villous flattening which occurred in the tissue. Many of these interpretive pitfalls are still encountered today, increasing the potential for diagnostic errors. These difficulties are mostly due to the fact that stained 2-dimensional sections can never truly represent the 3-dimensional framework of the intestinal tissue under investigation. Therefore, this review offers a critical account occasioned by these 2-dimensional interpretative errors and which, in our opinion, should in general be jettisoned. As a result, we leave a framework regarding the true 3-dimensional knowledge of mucosal structure accrued over the 70-year period of study, and one which is available for future reference.
Citation
World Journal of Gastroenterology, 25(20), p. 2402-2415
ISSN
2219-2840
1007-9327
Pubmed ID
31171885
Link
Language
en
Publisher
Baishideng Publishing Group Co, Limited
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Title
From 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional: Overcoming dilemmas in intestinal mucosal interpretation
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

Files:

NameSizeformatDescriptionLink
openpublished/From2-DimensionalCharlesworth2019JournalArticle.pdf 3317.175 KB application/pdf Published version View document