title: Comparison of bentiromide test and rice flour breath hydrogen test in the detection of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
abstract: Bentiromide test (BT) has been recently approved in the United States for screening patients with chronic pancreatitis for exocrine insufficiency. A few reports have suggested that the rice flour breath hydrogen test (RFBHT)--i.e., breath hydrogen analysis after rice flour ingestion--may also be useful in diagnosing exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. We conducted this study to compare the diagnostic value of these two tests in chronic alcoholic (n = 14) and nutritional or tropical (n = 6) pancreatitis. False-positive results were not noted with either of these two tests in 12 healthy volunteers. BT was positive in 28.6% of patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis and in 16.7% of patients with tropical pancreatitis. In comparison, RFBHT was almost twice as sensitive as BT in detecting insufficiency in patients with alcoholic pancreatitis (50 vs. 28.6%) and four times as sensitive in patients with tropical pancreatitis (66.7 vs. 16.7%). Only one patient in our study had a positive BT but a negative RFBHT. We recommend RFBHT as a simple, safe, and inexpensive test in screening patients for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
mesh_terms: D010129:4-Aminobenzoic Acid / Q000652:urine; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D062365:Aminobenzoates; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D010188:Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012275:Oryza; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D062366:para-Aminobenzoates
chemical_list: D062365:Aminobenzoates; D062366:para-Aminobenzoates; C006717:bentiromide; D006859:Hydrogen; D010129:4-Aminobenzoic Acid