title: Scintigraphic evaluation of gastroesophageal reflux following gastrectomy.
abstract: We used scintigraphy to detect and quantify gastro-esophageal reflux, and determined the sensitivity of this method for identifying patients with clinical symptoms and/or endoscopic evidence of reflux. Thirty gastrectomy patients with heartburn and regurgitation, and 8 healthy controls were studied. The gastro-esophageal reflux index, calculated from imaging data, correlated significantly with the symptom score of the subjects, and the index was significantly larger in the symptomatic patients group (7.07 +/- 1.21) than in the healthy control group (1.54 +/- 0.22) (p < 0.001). Our study suggests that scintiscanning is capable of detecting gastro-esophageal reflux accurately, rapidly, noninvasively, and with a high degree of sensitivity. In addition, scintiscanning can be employed to quantify reflux in gastrectomy patients.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusunoki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utsunomiya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004942:Esophagitis, Peptic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011178:Postgastrectomy Syndromes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate
chemical_list: D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate