Measurement of gastric emptying of liquids by sagittal antral planimet
ry is established. Ultrasonic measurement of gastric emptying of solid
s has not been assessed although gastroparesis often reveales a delaye
d gastric emptying of solids first. Therefore in this prospective stud
y we used a solid meal (50 g rye bread, 1 egg, 40 g butter, 200 ml ora
nge juice; 280 kcal) to examine intraindividual reproducibility of ult
rasound in 20 healthy volunteers. Moreover, in 20 diabetics antral pla
nimetry assessed by ultrasound was compared to scintigraphy. Antral pl
animetry showed a coefficient of variation, that was nearly three time
s greater between subjects than between two measurements performed on
the same subject. This results reflect a good intraindividual reproduc
ibility. Gastric emptying half-times assessed by ultrasound and scinti
graphy did not correlate in diabetics (R = 0.2). However, correlation
between sonographic measurement of antral area and scintigraphy at def
ined times (60, 120, 180, 240 min) was significant (R = 0.7; p < 0,001
). These results imply that ultrasonic antral planimetry is a suitable
orientating method for measuring gastric emptying of solids.