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Small Intestine, Anatomy and Histology

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Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

Synonyms

Small bowel

Anatomy (Macroscopy)

The small intestine is a specialized tubular structure within the abdominal cavity in continuity with the stomach proximally and the colon distally. The small bowel is about 6 m in the adult. Three subdivisions; “the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum”are defined and characterized by various anatomic relationships. The first 25 cm of small intestine, the duodenum; excluding the most proximal several centimeters, is a fixed, retroperitoneal structure that forms a C- or U-shape around the head of the pancreas. Four subdivisions of the duodenum have been described: (a) the first portion, the duodenal bulb, is the most proximal and superior segment; (b) the descending or second portion, which the common bile duct and major and minor pancreatic ducts empty into the papillae; (c) the horizontal or third portion; and (d) the ascending or fourth portion. Duodenum ends at the ligament of Treitz, where it turns to the peritoneal cavity. The remainder of the...

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References and Further Reading

  • Adler, D. G., Crawford, J. M., & Farraye, F. A. (2015). GI tract endoscopic and tissue processing techniques and normal histology. In R. D. Odze & J. R. Goldblum (Eds.), Surgical pathology of the GI tract, liver, biliary tract and pancreas (pp. 4–33). Philadelphia: Elsevier.

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  • Bass, L. M., & Wershil, B. K. (2016). Small and large intestine. In M. Feldman, L. S. Friedman, & L. J. Brandt (Eds.), Sleisenger & Fordtran’s gastrointestinal and liver disease (pp. 1649–1678). Philadelphia: Elsevier.

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  • Chen, Z. M., & Wang, H. L. (2004). Alteration of cytokeratin 7 and cytokeratin 20 expression profile is uniquely associated with tumorigenesis of primary adenocarcinoma of the small intestine. Am J Surg Pathol, 28(10), 1352–1359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katzin, W. E., & Petras, R. E. (2012). Small intestine. In S. E. Millis (Ed.), Histology for pathologists (pp. 647–672). Philadelphia: Lippincott.

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Correspondence to Ayca Kirmizi .

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Kirmizi, A. (2017). Small Intestine, Anatomy and Histology. In: Carneiro, F., Chaves, P., Ensari, A. (eds) Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1537

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1537

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40559-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40560-5

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