Variability of gallbladder emptying after oral stimulation.
BACKGROUND
To date, the intraindividual reproducibility of fasting and postprandial gallbladder (GB) volumes has not been established satisfactorily. Hence we examined the variability of postprandial GB motility, using the biplane Simpson method as a new sonographic tool for GB volume determination.


METHODS
The biplane Simpson method was validated in vitro and in vivo and compared with the sum-of-cylinders method. Thereafter, postprandial GB emptying after a defined test meal was examined in 10 healthy volunteers over 108 min on days 1, 31, and 61.


RESULTS
The results of the biplane Simpson method correlated with real volumes (r = 0.99) and provided a intra- and inter-observer variation of less than 5%. Intraindividually, differences in fasting GB volume ranged from 1.9 to 24.0 ml within the observation period. The patterns of GB emptying also showed fluctuations characterized by a rather large interindividual and intraindividual variability.


CONCLUSIONS
The biplane Simpson method is a reliable tool for measuring GB volumes. The fasting and the postprandial GB volumes vary considerably within individuals when measured over a period of 2 months.
Schiedermaier
P
P
Dept. of General Internal Medicine, University of Bonn, Germany.
Neubrand
M
M
Hansen
S
S
Sauerbruch
T
T
D000328:Adult; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005215:Fasting / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D016473:Gallbladder Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography
D004041:Dietary Fats