ULTRASONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF FASTING LIQUID CONTENT IN THE HUMAN STOMACH

Background: Disturbed antroduodenal motility plays an important role i n the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia (FD). Such motility dist urbances can be investigated by transcutaneous ultrasound. When it is measured in a standardized section, patients with FD have on an averag e significantly larger antral area than healthy controls. Methods: In this study we investigated the relationship between the antral area me asured by ultrasound and the amount of fasting gastric content quantit ated by aspiration through the gastroscope in 30 patients. In five hea lthy controls we measured the increment of the antral area after inges tion of graded volumes of water. All recordings were made in interdige stive phase I. Results: Measurements of the antral area were highly re producible, with small variations within an hour and from day to day. There was a highly significant correlation between ultrasonographicall y measured antral area and amount of fasting gastric juice and between increment of antral area and amounts of ingested water. Conclusions: The ultrasonographically measured antral area during fasting is highly reproducible. Enlarged fasting antral area reflects increased volume of gastric juice.