Scanning electron microscopy of the jejunum in children with protein-energy malnutrition

Samples of jejunum from seven children dying from severe oedematous malnutrition were fixed with intralumenal glutaraldehyde in combination with external immersion, using a rapid autopsy protocol. Selected areas were post-fixed in osmium tetroxide, dehydrated with an ethanol series and critical point dried. After mounting on aluminium stubs, specimens were sputter-coated with a thin layer of gold and palladium. Scanning electron microscopy showed patterns ranging from subtotal villous atrophy, through partial villous atrophy with low ridges, to longer, taller ridges with cerebriform convolutions. In one case, villous height had been interpreted as normal on light microscopy. The scanning electron microscope revealed that the mucosa in this case was composed of ridges and leaf forms. Processing for scanning electron microscopy is simple. The specimens can be viewed and photographed in a relatively short time. In addition, the three-dimensional record provides clarification of ambiguities which often arise from routine histological sections.

Electron microscopy in Jamaica: applications and techniques

Although the electron microscope was developed about 60 years ago in Germany, its arrival and subsequent use in Jamaica are of considerably more recent date. In this paper, the principles of scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM & TEM) are briefly explained, and examples are given of the research done with the electron microscopes at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica, especially over the last three years. Detailed descriptions of specimen preparation are provided for both SEM and TEM and particular emphasis is placed on the methodology used in our laboratory, as it sometimes differs from the routine followed in electron microscopy units of temperate countries.