Comparison of three methods to estimate steatorrhoea

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Steatorrhoea, characterized by excessive fat in faeces, requires accurate diagnostic methods.
• Current diagnostic approaches include faecal fat collection and breath tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the reliability of a 24-hour faecal fat collection method with the 14C-triolein breath test for estimating faecal fat excretion.

Main Methods:

• Faecal fat excretion was assessed in 24 patients using three methods: 3-day collection, 24-hour collection with a cuprous thiocyanate marker, and 14C-triolein breath test.
• Breath 14CO2 excretion was measured after a liquid meal containing 14C-triolein in an arachis oil emulsion.

Main Results:

• A good correlation (r=0.87) was found between the two quantitative faecal fat estimations, identifying 17 patients with steatorrhoea (>7 g/day).
• The 14C-triolein breath test yielded disappointing results, with seven steatorrhoea patients showing normal breath 14CO2 excretion.
• Increasing the fat load in the breath test improved detection but still resulted in abnormal results in non-steatorrhoea subjects.

Conclusions:

• The 24-hour faecal specimen collection using a cuprous thiocyanate marker is a more reliable method for estimating faecal fat excretion.
• The 14C-triolein breath test, in its tested configurations, is less reliable for diagnosing steatorrhoea compared to faecal fat collection.