Reproducibility of a solid and of a liquid caloric meal for gastric emptying studies.
Simple meals are required for routine scintigraphic gastric emptying studies. We evaluated the reproducibility of a caloric liquid meal (520 kcal) compared to that of a solid meal (638 kcal) in 8 and 11 healthy volunteers, respectively. Gastric emptying rates and half-times were similar in two tests using the same meal, while the methods used to express lag times were not highly reproducible. The emptying rates and half-times of the liquid meal were delayed after the intake of bellafoline. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that: (a) gastric emptying rates and half-times are reproducible parameters for the expression of scintigraphic gastric emptying studies; (b) mathematical methods to express lag times are not highly reproducible; (c) a 500 kcal liquid meal is sensitive to the effects of bellafoline, a drug able to delay gastric emptying. Further clinical evaluation is required to test its applicability in routine studies.
Tosetti
C
C
Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Italy.
Paternicò
A
A
Stanghellini
V
V
Barbara
G
G
Corbelli
C
C
Marengo
M
M
Levorato
M
M
Monetti
N
N
Corinaldes
R
R
D000328:Adult; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013671:Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013671:Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid