GASTRIC MYOELECTRICAL ACTIVITY AND GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY IN PATIENTS WITH FUNCTIONAL DYSPEPSIA

The aim of our study was to examine the prevalence of gastric myoelect rical disturbances in relation to gastrointestinal motility abnormalit ies in patients with functional dyspepsia, using simultaneous electrog astrography and antroduodenojejunal manometry. We carried out electrog astrography in 20 patients with functional dyspepsia and in 20 healthy volunteers. In 10 of these patients and in 10 of the volunteers antro duodenojejunal manometry was performed simultaneously. Apart from a hi gher postprandial power content of the 3 cycles per minute (cpm) compo nent in the patients (1263 +/- 317 and 393 +/- 101 mu v(2), respective ly; P = 0.016), no differences in the electrogastrographic variables w ere found between the groups. In the manometric part of the study, pos tprandial antral hypoactivity was not a prominent finding. Instead, sm all intestinal hyperactivity was found in the dyspeptic patients, with both a higher frequency and amplitude of the contractions (P < 0.05). This hyperactivity often consisted of bursts, which were significantl y more frequent in patients than in control subjects (total duration o f burst activity 25.6 +/- 6.4 and 6.0 +/- 1.7 min, respectively; P = 0 .013). A positive correlation was found between the frequency of the g astric electrical control activity and the antral contraction frequenc y (P = 0.006), between the power content of the electrographic signal and the antral contraction amplitude (P = 0.025), and between the post prandial/fasting electrographic power ratio and the antral motility in dex (P = 0.007). In conclusion, gastric myoelectrical activity is mini mally disturbed in patients with functional dyspepsia. Motor abnormali ties, especially small intestinal hyperactivity, are more likely to pl ay a prominent role in the genesis of dyspeptic symptoms.