Dyspepsia, antral motor dysfunction, and gastric stasis of solids

Abstract

Extensive gastric manometric and emptying studies were performed in a patient with postprandial dyspeptic symptoms which, for many years, had been diagnosed as functional complaints. After ingestion of a mixed, solid-liquid meal we observed marked gastric stasis of solids associated with a weak antral pressure response, whereas gastric emptying of fluids was normal. Fundic pressure activity, recorded separately, was also normal. This case may represent a pathophysiologic expression of the specific roles of the antrum in the emptying of solids (abnormal) and of the fundus in the emptying of liquids (normal) and shows that pathophysiologic abnormalities can sometimes be demonstrated in patients lumped under a "functional" category.