Comparison of continuous breath test and gastric scintigraphy for the measurement of gastric emptying rate in healthy and dyspeptic individuals.
OBJECTIVE
To determine normative gastric emptying rates for the continuous breath test and to compare its findings with gastric scintigraphy in healthy volunteers and dyspeptic patients.


METHODS
A standard 250 kcal meal double-labeled with 1 mCi 99mTc colloid and 100 μg nonradioactive 13C-octanoic acid was administered to 20 healthy individuals and 22 dyspeptic patients attending a tertiary medical center in 2009-2010. Gastric emptying rate was measured simultaneously with sequential gastric scintigraphy and the continuous breath test. The results of the healthy controls were used as a normative reference. The findings of the two tests were analyzed by linear regression and κ statistics. In addition, the gastric half-emptying times (T ½) were compared by a κ test for evaluating the agreement of normal/abnormal results in both methods.


RESULTS
Background features were as follows: healthy individuals - 15 men/5 women, mean age 44.9 ± 14 years and mean BMI 26.8 ± 3.5; dyspeptic patients - 5 men/17 women, mean age 58.0 ± 13 years and mean BMI 25.3 ± 5.5. The upper limit of normal for gastric half-emptying time (T ½) was 140 min by the breath test. The linear correlation of T ½ between the methods was 0.64. The agreement of normal/abnormal T ½ between the methods was 0.65.


CONCLUSIONS
The continuous breath test may be a suitable method for the evaluation of gastric emptying. A larger study is required to determine its feasibility as the standard of care in dyspeptic patients.
Division of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah Tikva, Israel. dickmanr1@gmail.com
Ram
R
Dickman
Tatyana
T
Zilper
Adam
A
Steinmetz
Lea
L
Pakanaev
Yishai
Y
Ron
Hanna
H
Bernstine
David
D
Groshar
Yaron
Y
Niv
Haim
H
Shirin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019518:Postprandial Period; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012016:Reference Values; D013270:Stomach / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals