Xanthoma of the stomach--some morphometrical peculiarities and scanning electron microscopy.
OBJECTIVE
"Lipid Iceland's" in gastric mucosa, a rare finding in gastroenterology, is described in this paper. The aim of our investigation was to evaluate the frequency of the so-called "gastric xanthoma" in biopsy specimens and to describe the picture elicited by scanning electron microscopy.


METHODS
We investigated cell characteristics histochemically, morphometrically and with scanning electron microscopy.


RESULTS
The frequency of xanthoma in our gastrobiopsy material was 0.018% (4 of 21,650 cases) over a 6-year period. The picture of stomach xanthoma given by scanning electron microscopy is very typical of the condition and is called "rolling stones".


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that this diagnostic method warrants further investigation.
Petrov
S
S
Department of Pathology, Dr Ratcho Angelov District Hospital, Sofia, Bulgaria. st.petrov@usa.net
Churtchev
J
J
Mitova
R
R
Boyanova
L
L
Tarassov
M
M
D001706:Biopsy; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014973:Xanthomatosis / Q000473:pathology*