Microscopic anatomy of the vasculature of the human intestinal villus - a study with review

Until recently, works on the microscopic anatomy of the human intestinal villus had been hampered by lack of in vivo observations, and were based on early corrosion cast techniques before the advent of scanning electron microscopy to correctly identify the nature of the vessels seen. On review, a large number of human anatomy and histology texts carry a possibly erroneous message, as is the same with the earlier works, that there are arterioles and venules in the core of these villi. Based on recently available high resolution in vivo observations by endoscopy, our work by transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy techniques on cross sections of the villi shows only capillary type channels, and such is also true of those anatomy and histology textbooks that have photomicrographs of cross sections of the villi (despite their possible errors). An analytical discussion in further support of our findings is made, based on established anatomical and physiological principles.