Comparison of continuous breath test and gastric scintigraphy for the measurement of gastric emptying rate in healthy and dyspeptic individuals.

Objective: To determine normative gastric emptying rates for the continuous breath test and to compare its findings with gastric scintigraphy in healthy volunteers and dyspeptic patients.

Methods: A standard 250 kcal meal double-labeled with 1 mCi 99mTc colloid and 100 μg nonradioactive 13C-octanoic acid was administered to 20 healthy individuals and 22 dyspeptic patients attending a tertiary medical center in 2009-2010. Gastric emptying rate was measured simultaneously with sequential gastric scintigraphy and the continuous breath test.