Development and evaluation of an endoscopic technique permitting rapid visualization of the cardiac region of the porcine stomach

An evaluation of the use of a flexible videoscope to efficiently monitor ulcers of the pars oesophagea was carried out in grower-finisher pigs. Gastroscopy was performed on 2 separate occasions in 32 pigs following anaesthesia with intravenous pentobarbital. Ulcers of the pars oesophagea were subjectively graded. Grades from the second endoscopic examination were compared for agreement with grades derived from gross inspection of the pars oesophagea PM, and with grades derived from histopathological examination of sections of the same region. The pars oesophagea was adequately visualized in all endoscopic examinations. The average duration of each examination, from anaesthetic induction, was approximately 8 min. Gastroscopy permitted appreciation of a wide range of focal and diffuse superficial and deep ulcerative lesions of the pars oesophagea, but failed to unequivocally identify parakeratosis of the pars oesophagea. Agreement between endoscopic and subsequent PM and histopathological gradings of ulcerations was poor. It is concluded that the use of a flexible videoscope permitted rapid inspection of the pars oesophagea, and was therefore a practical method of experimentally monitoring the progression of spontaneous gastric ulcers in pigs. It was suggested that the poor agreement between endoscopic and PM findings occurred because endoscopy was possibly more sensitive at detecting small and superficial ulcerations.