Xanthoma of the stomach--some morphometrical peculiarities and scanning electron microscopy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: 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. METHODOLOGY: 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.