Fig. 2

Standardized procedure for sampling of gastric specimen by surgical resection: a incision of the specimen along the greater curvature of the stomach; b the resected specimen was pinned out with fine needles on a rubber plate; c the resected specimen was soaked in a volume of 4% neutral buffered formaldehyde 6–8 times that of the specimen for 12–48 h; d and e the whole of the gastric wall tissue was sliced in parallel at a distance of 4–5 mm; f the sliced tissues were placed in the cassettes for subsequent dehydration, embedding, and sectioning for histological evaluation