Validation of antroduodenal motility measurements made by echo-planar magnetic resonance imaging

Echo planar imaging, a development of magnetic resonance imaging, can produ ce snapshot images of the stomach and antroduodenal segment in as little as 64 msec and can be more useful than conventional techniques when assessing motility. The aim of this study was to compare antroduodenal motility meas ured by simultaneous perfused tube manometry and echo planar imaging. Ten v olunteers were studied following the ingestion of 500 mt water or 500 mt po rridge. Antroduodenal images, with acquisition times of 130 msec, were take n at 3-sec intervals, synchronized with motility traces and presented as a split-screen video. This allowed direct visual comparison of gastric wall m ovement and motility to be made. Contractions were confined to either the s tomach or the duodenum or propagated across the antroduodenal segment. Over 4550 images were available for analysis. A larger number of propagated con tractions were recorded with echo planar imaging in both water (P = 0.03) a nd food (P = 0.02) groups, whereas manometry detected a greater number of i solated duodenal pressure waves (P = 0.005). The contraction rate for water and food studies was similar, but direct visualization indicated that the manometric technique under-detected propagated events. The ability of echo planar imaging to record antroduodenal contractile activity provides a new insight into the Pole of occlusive and nonocclusive contractions during gas tric emptying.