title: A quantitative study on the myenteric plexus of the distal end of the human esophagus.
abstract: The densities of ganglia and nerve cells in the myenteric plexus of the last distal 11 cm of the human esophagus were determined in 6 esophagi from autopsy material. The densities of ganglia and nerve cells in cresyl violet-stained stretch preparations of 11 esophageal segments, each 1 cm in length, were compared. The highest values were recorded in segments 4, 5, and 6 cm above cardiac incisura. The lowest densities of ganglia and nerve cells were found in segments 1, 2, and 3 cm above the cardiac incisura. The segments contained 659 to 3,316 perikarya/cm2 and 31 to 110 ganglia/cm2; ganglia contained 3 to 310 cells.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Liberti
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fujimura
mesh_terms: D004947:Esophagus / Q000294:innervation*; D005724:Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*