Characterization of delayed liquid gastric emptying in children by the 13C-acetate breath test

Abstract

The 13C-acetate breath test represents a potential alternative to conventional scintigraphy to measure liquid gastric emptying (GE). The purpose of this study was to compare the 13C-acetate breath test to gastric scintigraphy in children with functional dyspepsia. Simultaneous assessment of GE was performed in 28 children (9–17 years of age) using a liquid test meal that was double labeled with 13C-acetate and 99 mTechnetium. 13CO2 versus time profiles were fit using traditional pharmacokinetic analyses. For each subject, GE half-life determined by scintigraphy was plotted against parameters determined from the 13C-acetate breath test. Linear regression was used to explore the associations between the tests. Complete 13CO2 versus time profiles were available for 25 subjects. There was no association between the scintigraphy GE T½ and the13CO2 half-exhalation time. However, significant associations were observed between the gastric half-emptying time as determined by scintigraphy and two of the breath test parameters: the enrichment of 13CO2 present in breath samples at 60 min (DOB60) (r = −0.52, p = 0.01) and the area under the curve from 0 to 60 min (AUC0-60 min) (r = −0.54; p < 0.01). The 13C-acetate breath test has the potential to serve as a rapid, technically simple and inexpensive means to assess liquid GE in children with functional dyspepsia and possibly serve as a pharmacodynamic surrogate in studies of prokinetic drugs in children.