title: Delayed gastric emptying in patients with Prader Willi Syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A 15 year old girl with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) died of gastric rupture. Systematic literature research revealed seven case reports of PWS patients with acute gastric dilatation, two had a lethal course. The objective of this study was to determine if delayed gastric emptying in PWS patients might contribute to gastric dilatation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gastric emptying was measured in eight patients with PWS by nucleotid scintigraphy after a standardized test meal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median age was 17.8 years (range 10.1-19.5). Median BMI of the male patients was 29.5 (range 18.4-34.8), of the female patients 28 (range 20.0-44.8). Half time of gastric emptying was delayed in five of the eight patients (median 78.5 minutes, range 59-134).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Scintigraphic measurement of gastric emptying in eight PWS patients revealed delay in comparison to normal values. This might be a risk factor for gastric dilatation and rupture in patients with PWS.
authors.affiliation: Inselspital, Children's Hospital of the University Berne.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arenz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarzer
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pfluger
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D013271:Gastric Dilatation / Q000209:etiology; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D058748:Pain Perception; D011218:Prader-Willi Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult