[A radionuclide study of esophageal motility disorders in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy]

The radionuclide method was used to examine transport function of the esophagus in 24 patients suffering from diabetes mellitus and symmetric distal polyneuropathy. 99Tc-sulfocolloid was employed as a radiopharmaceutical agent. Radioactivity movement was visualized by means of a gamma chamber. In 9 patients (37.5%), measurements were made of the prolonged transit time for the whole esophagus as well as the prolonged transit time for the interior, median and upper third of the esophagus. The same patients demonstrated a delay of the rate of evacuation of the entire esophagus and respective parts thereof. The radionuclide method described is rapid and noninvasive. It may be included into the diagnostic complex for early identification of vegetative disorders in patients suffering from diabetic polyneuropathy.