EDITORIAL SYNOPSIS Jejunal biopsies from 24 patients with various post-gastrectomy states were compared with those from control patients and patients with idiopathic steatorrhoea. Minor histological changes, such as shortening and thickening of the villi, were frequently encountered in the control subjects, but the dissecting microscope showed that these were related to variations in villous shape. Similar changes in the villi were found in the post-gastrectomy patients, leaf-shaped villi and ridge formation being more common than was thought.

It was recently shown by means of the augmented histamine test that there was an increased incidence of achlorhydria in patients with hyperthyroidism, and that the mean acid output was considerably less than in normal subjects (Williams and Blair, 1964). No correlation was found between the level of acid secretion and the severity or duration of the hyperthyroidism, and the acid output did not increase after successful control of thyroid function. Gastric biopsies, however, suggested that the reduction in acid secretion was related to the presence of some degree of gastritis. Round-cell infiltration and lymph-follicle formation were also often noted in the gastric mucosa, and because of these appearances, and the recent demonstration of an increased incidence of antigastric antibody in patients with hyperthyroidism (Doniach et al., 1963;Irvine, 1963a) ResultsIncidence of Antigastric Antibody.-The findings are shown in Table I. Antigastric antibody was found in 15 (37.5%) of the hyperthyroid patients and in only 4 (10%) of the matched controls, this difference being highly significant (P<0.01). Of the 15 hyperthyroid patients with antigastric antibody five were + ++, six + +, and four +. Of the positive controls two were + + +, and one each + + and +. As the number of male patients and male controls was small, no conclusions can be drawn about the relative sex incidence of antigastric antibody.

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