A Study of Variations of the Stomach in Adults and Growth of the Fetal Stomach

The stomach is a site for various pathological conditions like congestive hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, peptic ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and carcinoma of the stomach. Further, for the treatment of obesity too, surgical manipulation of the stomach is done by a bariatric surgeon. With the availability of a wide range of diagnostic tools like barium meals, USG, CT scan, MRI, and endoscopy, it is possible to identify the variations in the position and shape of the stomach and developmental defects while diagnosing diseases. As thorough knowledge of stomach position and variations will help in preoperative planning and preventing inadvertent damage during surgeries, this topic was taken up for research. Aims and objectives This study aims to study the variations of the stomach in human cadavers and dead fetuses with regard to its length, shape, capacity, ends, curvatures, and mucosal folding and classify them into various groups. In addition, this study also aims to assess the pattern of growth of the stomach in fetuses. Material and methods The stomachs of 50 adult cadavers and 20 dead fetuses were studied by standard dissection method, concerning their topography, shape, level of the cardiac and pyloric orifice, cardiac angle, length of greater (GC) and lesser curvatures (LC), pyloric sphincter, volume, and mucosal folds. Results The stomach was located in the left hypochondriac quadrant in 78% of the samples and in relation to the 7th costal cartilage in 64%. The two main types of classification established were Type I (variation in position along the vertical axis) in 4% and Type II (variation in position along the transverse axis) in 14%. Type III classification comprised the variations in shape, with a J-shaped stomach in 58%, cylindrical in 20%, crescentic in 14%, and reversed L in 8%. The average length showed significant differences in males, 19±2.48 cm vis-a-vis females, 17.1±2.01 cm. In 66% of the cases, the cardiac orifice was to the left of the midline behind the 7th costal cartilage, and the pyloric orifice was to the right, 1.2 cm to the midline and in the transpyloric plane in 76%. The average GC and LC were 33.6±1.43 cm and 27±5.28 cm, respectively. GC was more significant in males. The average length and diameter of the pyloric canal were about 3.56±0.38 cm & 0.77±0.23 cm, respectively. The thickness of the pyloric sphincter did not show a significant gender difference. The average volume was 289.88±69.15 ml. Rugae were normally spaced in 68%, nearly spaced in 18%, and widely spaced in 6%. The fetal stomach measurements were significantly correlated to gestational age and showed linear growth. Conclusion The study of the morphology of the stomach and its variations are important not only to surgeons and anatomists but also to gastroenterologists. The linear growth of the stomach in embryos helps radiologists and obstetricians to diagnose intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and congenital anomalies early.