Routine studies of swallowed radionuclide transit in paediatrics: experience with 400 patients.

Scintigraphic studies of swallowed 99m Tc-sulphur colloid mixed with a few millilitres of liquid, performed on 400 paediatric patients of all ages, allowed visualisation of foregut function and measurement of oesophageal transit time and gastric emptying proportions. This non-invasive and physiological procedure requires a standard gamma camera with computing facilities and was performed as an outpatient routine. It proved very effective for the detection of gastro-oesophageal reflux and aspiration of refluxed liquid in patients of all ages but especially in neonates. The relevance of these scintigraphic results to oesophagitis, repeated respiratory problems, cyanotic and apnoeic spells and alternative methods of investigation is described.