A study on the relationship between gastric emptying and symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia

AIMS To quantify the partition of gastric contents between proximal and distal stomach during gastric emptying and evaluate the relationship between gastric emptying function and functional dyspepsia(FD) symptoms. METHODS Twenty-two patients with FD and 17 healthy volunteers ingested a standard meal labbled with ~(99m)Tc and ~(113m)In.Serial images of gastric area were taken by SPECT-scinitgraphic techniques, regions of interest for proximal, distal, and total stomach were defined, and activity time curves were derived. RESULTS The emptying pattent and half time(T_(50)) for liquid in patients with FD were not significantly different from controls. In the patients, emptying pattent for solid has been changed and distinguished from that in controls. Eleven showed delayed T_(50) for solid, two for liquid and two for both. Lag phase before emptying was disappeared in 12 patients(P0.05). Contents of solid in the distal region after 60 min was significantly higher than in controls (P0.05) during emptying. However, there were not significant differences in intragastric distribution between patients with and without delayed T_(50). The changed pattent and delayed emptying for solid were not related with the major symptoms, such as abdominal pain( P0.20), bloating(P0.20). CONCLUSIONS FD patients show delayed emptying and/or maldistribution, but not being attributed to their symptoms.