A technique for screening of achlorhydria and hypochlorhydria during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
Measuring of the intragastric pH during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy examination was performed perendoscopically with a monocrystalline antimony electrode, which was passed through the biopsy channel of the endoscope. The procedure was easily performed, resulting in only a few minutes' delay. If the pH found was 3.5 or above, the patients were later sent for a subcutaneous pentagastrin aspiration test. There was a close correlation between the lowest intragastric pH measured via the endoscope and the lowest pH measured in the gastric juice aspirated under basal conditions (r = 0.673, p less than 0.0001). An endoscopically assessed pH of 4.0 was the lowest level above which patients with achlorhydria or hypochlorhydria were found, according to the subsequent pentagastrin test. Fifty-five per cent of the patients with a perendoscopically assessed pH of 4.0 or above were achlorhydric.
Andersen
J
J
Dept. of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.
Ström
M
M
D000126:Achlorhydria / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000965:Antimony; D004566:Electrodes; D005260:Female; D005745:Gastric Acidity Determination / Q000295:instrumentation; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010418:Pentagastrin; D013270:Stomach / Q000502:physiology*
D000965:Antimony; D010418:Pentagastrin