Heterotopic Gastric Mucosa in the Rectum: Identification and Histogenesis of Cell Types by Luxol-Fast Blue and Immunocytochemical Procedures

Abstract

Abstract This report concerns the occurrence of heterotopic mucosa (HM) of the stomach in the lower rectum of a 55 year old white man. The morphology of HM, on routine hematoxylin-eosin and luxol-fast blue stains was that of an uninflamed, well-preserved, normal fundic mucosa (FM). Warthin-Starry and Giemsa stains did not reveal the presence of Helicobacter pylori. The immunohistochemical neuroendocrine markers usuallv demonstrable in the FM (chromogranin A, somatostatin) were positive in the HM, whereas those nondemonstrable in the FM (gastrin, glucagon, and insulin) were negative in the HM. The routine morphology and the presence and absence of neuroendocrine markers in the HM similar to those in the FM support the contention that the histogenesis of HM is congenital. (The J Histotechnol 18:61, 1995)