Our aim was to test the hypothesis that there is a relation between antral phasic pressure activity and the emptying of solids and liquids from the intact human stomach after a mixed meal. This hypothesis was evaluated in 14 healthy individuals in whom we performed simultaneous antral manometry and radioscintigraphy after ingestion of a meal labeled with [99mTc]sulfur colloid in cooked egg (solid component) and [111In]DTPA (liquid component). Analysis of the data included an in-depth evaluation of different models for expressing both gastric emptying rates and antral pressure activity. We found that gastric emptying was adequately represented by a two-phase model consisting of lag and emptying periods and by a power exponential model for the liquid phase. Distal antral motility was accurately represented by the slope of the cumulative antral motility index. During the lag period for solids, the antral motility was inversely related to the duration of the lag. During the solid-emptying period, there was a positive correlation between emptying of solids and antral motility. No significant relation was found between antral motility and overall emptying of the liquid phase of the meal. However, a relationship was found when antral motility was related to liquid emptying after an initial lag period for solids. These human data are consistent with a role of antral pressure activity in trituration of solid food and a role of the antrum in the subsequent propulsion of solids and liquids from the stomach.

Lung-reduction surgery can produce increases in the elastic recoil of the lung in patients with diffuse emphysema, leading to short-term improvement in dyspnea and exercise tolerance.

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Our first aim was to compare 111In-labeled Amberlite IR-12OP resin pellets and 131I-labeled fiber in the assessment of gastric and small bowel transit and colonic filling in healthy humans. Both radiolabels were highly stable for 3 h in an in vitro stomach model and remained predominantly bound to solid phase of stools collected over 5 days [90.5 +/- 2.1 (SE)% for 131I and 87.4 +/- 1.4% for 111In). The lag phase of gastric emptying was shorter for 111In-pellets (30 +/- 11 min compared with 58 +/- 12 min for 131I-fiber, P less than 0.05). However, the slope of the postlag phase of gastric emptying and the half time of small bowel transit were not significantly different for 111In-pellets and 131I-fiber. Filling of the colon was characterized by bolus movements of the radiolabel (10-80% range, 26% mean) followed by plateaus (periods of no movement of isotope into colon lasting 15-120 min, range; 51 min, mean). Half of the bolus movements occurred within 1 h of the intake of a second meal. Thus 111In-labeled Amberlite pellets provide an excellent marker for the study of gastric and small bowel transit and colonic filling in humans. The ileum acts as a reservoir and transfers boluses of variable sizes into the colon, often soon after the intake of a subsequent meal.

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