The term neonatal hepatitis originated in the 1950s when few causes of neonatal liver disease were identified, and pathologists recognized a characteristic histological appearance of the neonatal liver in response to injury. The term has since been used to refer…
Introduction This chapter summarizes how the hepatobiliary system develops, from a sheet of undifferentiated cells at 3 weeks’ gestation to an organ capable of performing a myriad of metabolic, synthetic, and detoxifying functions weeks later. The chapter divides hepatobiliary development…
Functional Anatomy and Histology of the Liver The liver is composed of lobules of hepatocytes that are bracketed by vascular structures with the central, or hepatic, veins on one side and the portal tracts (with portal veins and hepatic arteries)…
Optimal interpretation of endoscopic gastrointestinal biopsy specimens requires adequate clinical information including medication history and illnesses that may have associated gastrointestinal findings. The clinical history can guide additional studies in addition to the standard hematoxylin and eosin staining. Precise identification…
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has evolved specific mechanisms to allow ingestion of nutrients, their transport for digestion and absorption, and finally the expulsion of unused portions. This aboral propulsion of gastrointestinal contents is orchestrated by the complex interaction between the…
Small bowel video capsule endoscopy (VCE) was introduced in 2001 as a noninvasive means of obtaining high-quality, color endoscopic images from the duodenum to the cecum. Soon thereafter, VCE challenged traditional studies as the preferred method of examining the small…
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a combined endoscopic and radiologic procedure used for diagnostic and, more commonly, therapeutic interventions within the pancreatic and biliary tree. Although interventional radiology and interventional endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) approaches exist, ERCP has been and remains…
The development of the colonoscope followed that of upper panendoscopes. Rigid proctoscopes were developed in the late 1800s, and fiberoptic techniques were adapted to visualize the sigmoid and descending colon in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the colonoscope was lengthened…
The earliest gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed in the late 1880s using rigid instruments, looking initially at the esophagus and rectum. The semiflexible gastroscope was developed in the early 1930s by Schindler and Wolf utilizing a series of short-focal-length lenses and…
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank those who wrote the previous text versions and the following individuals for their contributions to this chapter: Meagan Costedio, MD; enterostomal therapists Coleen Potts, RN, Susan Booth, RN, and Jeanette Gatan, RN; Lisa Rhome,…