RELIABILITY OF SONOGRAPHIC GASTROBILIARY MOTILITY PARAMETERS AND CCK INCRETION AFTER A STANDARDIZED LIQUID FATTY MEAL

Aim and Methods Gastric emptying, antral motility, fasting gallbladder volumes, gallbladder emptying rates, and CCK incretion following a st andardized liquid fatty meal were investigated in 14 healthy young vol unteers (seven women and seven men) on two separate study days. In the seven young women, taking no oral contraceptives, one study day was i n the oestrogen phase and the other in the gestagen phase of their men strual cycle. Results There was good intraindividual reproducibility o f the different sonographic gastrobiliary motility parameters and the postprandial CCK incretion in both sexes (coefficients of reliability between 0.80 and 0.98). A significant effect of the menstrual cycle ph ase in young women was not evident. Instead of this a wide interindivi dual range of motility parameters, especially of gastric residual volu mes in young women, could be obtained. There was no close correlation between gastric emptying rates or the amounts of the fat induced chole cystokinin incretion and gallbladder emptying rates, indicating the re levance of additional cholecystokinin-independent preduodenal mechanis ms for the regulation of physiological digestive gallbladder emptying.