VALUE OF MUCOSAL BIOPSIES IN THE MONITORING OF ACUTE SMALL-BOWEL REJECTION

The value of mucosal biopsies in evaluating small bowel rejection is c ontroversial, In this study, the value of mucosal biopsies was estimat ed in unmodified porcine small bowel rejection. Ten animals received t he distal half of the small bowel as a heterotopic loop (Thiry-Vella l oop), The allografts were followed by proximally and distally harveste d Pull-thickness and mucosal biopsies every other day, starting from t he 3rd day and continuing until the grafts became necrotic. The histol ogical parameters in both types of biopsies were semiquantitatively sc ored from 0 to 3 and compared with each other. The difference in mean values on subsequent days was not remarkable. the results favoring sli ghtly higher values in full-thickness than in mucosal biopsies, Our re sults suggest that multiple mucosal biopsies are adequate in monitorin g morphological changes of small bowel grafts during rejection and tha t the proximal and distal ileum are similarly affected by acute reject ion.