SUMMARY Nineteen diagnostic peroral biopsy specimens from 18 children without diarrhoea, vomiting, or abdominal pain ('control' children) were compared with those taken from 23 children with diarrhoea of varying aetiology to establish the morphometric characteristics ofjejunal mucosa in childhood. Comparison was also made with normal jejunal mucosa from adults. Statistical analysis of each characteristic individually showed no significant difference between the 'control' children and those with diarrhoea, but there were significant differences between the mucosae of 'control' children and those of adults: the villi tended to be shorter and the crypts longer in children. Thirtyseven per cent of specimens from the 'control' children showed a partial villous atrophy, that is, they were abnormal by adult criteria. Discriminant analysis of the features measured showed effective separation ofthe following groups: normal histology from partial villous atrophy in children, healthy adults from 'control' children, and normal histology in adults from normal histology in children.

A method of morphometric analysis of jejunal mucosa using computer-aided microscopy is described. It is based on the technique of interactive computer graphics with definition by the observer of areas and lengths for measurement, but it also includes automatic measurements based on grey-level segmentation. The analyses are performed rapidly and efficiently. The technique is applicable to the analysis of biopsy tissue from many sites.

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