title: Gastric myoelectric activity in patients with end-stage liver disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abnormalities of gastrointestinal motility and transit time have been reported in association with end-stage liver disease. Motility abnormalities could be routinely studied if a simple noninvasive test were available. The electrogastrogram is a cutaneous measure of gastric myoelectric activity and correlates well with serosal recordings of gastric myoelectric activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate gastric myoelectric activity in patients with end-stage liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen patients with end-stage liver disease had gastric myoelectric activity measured with the electrogastrogram. An electrogastrogram was considered abnormal when normal gastric slow waves were seen less than 70% of the time or there was no increase in the electrogastrogram amplitude after a meal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abnormal electrogastrograms were present in 8 of 14 (57%) end-stage liver disease patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abnormal gastric myoelectric activity is common in end-stage liver disease.
authors.affiliation: University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Dept of Internal Medicine, Charlottesville, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Caras
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ishitani
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016065:Myoelectric Complex, Migrating / Q000502:physiology*; D019518:Postprandial Period; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology*