Determination of fundic accommodation in gastric emptying scintigraphy. Evaluation of its clinical usefulness

Gastric emptying scintigraphy is used to assess patients with symptoms of dyspepsia or gastroparesis. An alteration of fundus accommodation may explain these symptoms. The aim of this study was to determine the accommodation in gastric emptying scintigraphy studies performed in our institution.

50 patients (43 children) referred for gastric emptying assessment were evaluated. After fasting for 8 h, and following international guidelines, egg labeling was performed with 37 mBq of [⁹⁹mTc]Tc-DTPA and administration of standardized food. Areas of interest were defined in the stomach at different times, and the corresponding retention percentages were calculated. Considering the image at time zero, gastric accommodation was qualitatively and quantitatively assessed, calculating the ratio between proximal stomach counts and total counts.

Of the 50 patients studied, 32 had normal emptying, 10 had slowed emptying and 8 had accelerated emptying. Within the group of patients with normal emptying, 8 had altered accommodation (25%) and another 8 in the group with abnormal emptying (44%). Applying the ROC curve analysis to quantitative values, the most appropriate cut-off value was 0.785 with p < 0.001, sensitivity 82.4% and specificity 100%.

Gastric emptying scintigraphy in addition to determining motility, made it possible to assess both qualitatively and quantitatively the distribution of the radiotracer in the stomach and thus, indirectly, the accommodation in the fundus. It provided added diagnostic information in a simple manner, without protocol changes and allowing more specific treatments to be assessed.