Technetium-99m carboxymethylcellulose: a newly developed fibre marker for gastric emptying studies

We report a study of technetium-99m-labelled carboxymethyl-cellulose (99mTc-CMC) as a newly developed non-digestible marker of the solid phase of gastric contents. The radiosynthesis is simple and shows a high labelling efficiency. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated stability of the marker in the gastrointestinal tract during the process of gastric emptying. The gastric half-emptying time in ten healthy volunteers of both sexes was 105 +/- 17 min (mean +/- SD). This rate of gastric emptying is similar to that of non-digestible solid-phase markers such as in vivo labelled 99mTc-chicken liver or radio-iodinated cellulose. In comparison with digestible solid-phase markers such as 99mTc-labelled pancake or 99mTc-cooked egg, gastric emptying of 99mTc-CMC occurred more slowly, confirming the expected behaviour of a non-digestible solid-phase marker. We conclude that 99mTc-CMC has the advantage of a simple and rapid labelling procedure and may be useful for clinical studies of gastric emptying.