179 The Stomach

The gastric wall is composed of three layers: the mucosa, the muscularis mucosae, and the serosa. The gastric mucosa is lined by a single layer of mucussecreting columnar epithelium punctuated by pits where the gastric glands are situated. The stomach can be divided histologically into three areas according to the predominant gland type: cardiac, fundus or oxyntic, and antral. The cardiac region i…