99mTc-labeled solid-phase meal: a quantitative clinical measurement of human gastric emptying.

A solid-phase meal labeled with 99mTc-sulfur colloid provides an improved clinical test for the quantitative evaluation of human gastric emptying. We studied 12 healthy male controls and five male patients with known gastric stasis secondary to a vagotomy and drainage procedure. All subjects were fasted for 8 hours before the study, and each consumed an unbuttered biscuit and a poached egg white containing 1 mCi of 99mTc-sulfur colloid. For 2 hours, 60-second counts were measured every 10 minutes by a Pho Gamma III scintillation camera. The t1/2 for control subjects was 60 minutes, at which time patients with gastric stasis had retained 98% of the test meal. At 120 minutes, control subjects and patients with gastric stasis had 4.7% and 89%, respectively, of the meal remaining in the stomach. The solid-phase test meal labeled with 99mTc-sulfur colloid is easy to perform and can be used clinically to quantitatively measure gastric emptying in humans. This test can discriminate between control subjects and patients with known gastric stasis.