The aim of this study was to investigate gastric accommodation to a meal in
patients with reflux esophagitis using ultrasonography, Twenty consecutive
patients with reflux esophagitis of grade I (14) or II (6) and 20 healthy
subjects underwent ultrasonographic measurements of the stomach before and
after ingestion of a 500 mi soup meal. Reflux esophagitis patients revealed
a significantly larger sagittal area of the proximal stomach at 5 min (P =
0.002) and 15 min (P = 0.007) postprandially and experienced more epigastr
ic fullness after the meal (P = 0.0006). Postprandial fullness and sagittal
area of the proximal stomach correlated significantly (r = 0.69; P = 0.000
7). We conclude that patients with mild or moderate reflux esophagitis have
a larger sagittal area of the proximal stomach and more postprandial fulln
ess in response to a soup meal than healthy subjects. Postprandial distensi
on of the proximal stomach may be a pathogenetic factor in reflux esophagit
is.