[Pharmacologic double contrast method in the diagnosis of gastric neoplasms]

The technique of double contrast radiography, proposed by Vallebona since 1931, was developed in Japan for the detection of superficial carcinoma in the stomach. Between May 1979 and January 1982, 2080 patients were examined by double contrast method using effervescent pills, thick barium sulphate suspension, in hypotonic conditions of the walls. Double contrast false positives percentage is higher compared with standard technique, whilst the latter has a higher number of false negatives. The double contrast method has greatly increased the accuracy of X-ray diagnosis, considerably reducing the difference with endoscopy.