Measuring gastric emptying: comparison of 13C-octanoic acid breath test and scintigraphy.
The aim of this study was to compare scintigraphy, the standard method, and the (13)C-octanoic acid breath test (OBT) for measuring gastric emptying. Patients with functional dyspepsia (N = 21, 8 men and 13 women; ages, 40-75) underwent standardized dynamic scintigraphy and OBT. Scintigraphic images were obtained for 90 min and breath samples for 4 hr. The gastric half-emptying time for solids (T(1/2)) was calculated by two previously described mathematical models for the OBT samples: the nonlinear least-squares method and the geometrical method. T(1/2) was significantly longer measured by OBT than by scintigraphy (167 +/- 50 min for the nonlinear least-squares method (P < 0.05) and 185+/- 52 min for the geometrical method (P < 0.005) vs. 109 +/- 74 min for scintigraphy). No correlation appeared between T(1/2) measured by scintigraphy and T(1/2) measured by OBT (r = 0.26) for nonlinear least-squares method and (r = -0.13) for geometrical method). Furthermore, the correlation between the two mathematical models appeared to be low (r = 0.15). Although OBT is simple and safe, its correlation with scintigraphy appears to be weak. The usefulness of this test for measuring gastric emptying thus requires further validation.
Department of Gastroenterology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. jari.punkkinen@hus.fi
Jari
J
Punkkinen
Ilmari
I
Konkka
Olli
O
Punkkinen
Tapani
T
Korppi-Tommola
Martti
M
Färkkilä
Jari
J
Koskenpato
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests; D002210:Caprylates; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013270:Stomach / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
D002210:Caprylates; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C031492:octanoic acid