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The Normal Biopsy: Mucosa and Submucosa

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Colitis

Abstract

The digestive tract is a hollow tube consisting throughout of three coats or layers. The first layer, the mucosa, is made up of an epithelial lining which borders on the lumen of the bowel and rests upon a basement membrane, the lamina propria and the muscularis mucosae. The second coat is the submucosa. The muscularis propria, the third layer, is composed of two layers of smooth muscle separated by a thin layer of connective tissue in which the ganglionated myenteric plexus (Auerbach’s) can be observed. The subserosa is composed of loose areolar tissue covered by mesothelium where the tract borders on the body cavity (serosa). Endoscopic biopsies are limited to the mucosa and upper part of the submucosa. A good understanding of the normal histology of the mucosa and submucosa is essential for analysis of endoscopic biopsies of the colon.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, ZOL Genk, Genk, Belgium

    Peter Van Eyken MD, PhD

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Daniela Fanni MD, PhD, Clara Gerosa MD & Rossano Ambu MD

Authors
  1. Peter Van Eyken MD, PhD
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  2. Daniela Fanni MD, PhD
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  3. Clara Gerosa MD
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  4. Rossano Ambu MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Van Eyken MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of pathology, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Karel Geboes

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Sonia Nemolato

  3. Department of Pathology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Maria Leo

  4. Department of Pathology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Gavino Faa

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Van Eyken, P., Fanni, D., Gerosa, C., Ambu, R. (2014). The Normal Biopsy: Mucosa and Submucosa. In: Geboes, K., Nemolato, S., Leo, M., Faa, G. (eds) Colitis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08028-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08028-4_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08027-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08028-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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