Three-Dimensional Imaging of the Enteric Nervous System in Human Pediatric Colon Reveals New Features of Hirschsprung's Disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Hirschsprung's disease is defined by the absence of the enteric nervous system (ENS) from the distal bowel. Primary treatment is "pull-through" surgery to remove bowel that lacks ENS, with reanastomosis of "normal" bowel near the anal verge. Problems after pull-through are common, and some may be due to retained hypoganglionic bowel (ie, low ENS density). Testing this hypothesis has been difficult because counting enteric neurons in tissue sections is unreliable, even for experts. Tissue clearing and 3-dimensional imaging provide better data about ENS structure than sectioning.

Methods

Regions from 11 human colons and 1 ileal specimen resected during Hirschsprung's disease pull-through surgery were cleared, stained with antibodies to visualize the ENS, and

SUBMITTER: Eisenberg JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11260536 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature