• Reto Treier, Andreas Steingoetter, Dominik Weishaupt, Oliver Goetze, Peter Boesiger, Michael Fried, and Werner Schwizer.
• Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Gloriastrasse 35, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 Mar 1; 23 (3): 331-8.

PurposeTo determine the effect of the right decubitus lying body position (RP) on relevant parameters of human gastric motor function in healthy volunteers.Materials And MethodsPostprandial gastric function after ingestion of a solid/liquid meal (150 g/150 mL) was assessed over 90 minutes in volunteers in the RP and seated position (SP). Ten healthy volunteers were imaged using two MRI systems that differed in architecture and field strength. Stomach and intragastric air volume, intragastric meal distribution, gastric emptying, and gastric peristalsis were compared between the RP and SP.ResultsBody position did not affect gastric relaxation (RP, 372 mL vs. SP, 384 mL) and initial gastric volumes (stomach: RP, 458 mL vs. SP, 462 mL; meal: RP, 377 mL vs. SP, 399 mL; intragastric air: RP, 110 mL vs. SP, 98 mL). Postprandial stomach volume and gastric activity (RP and SP, 3.1 minute(-1)) were also similar. Meal emptying showed different characteristics, resulting in a significant but small difference in meal volume of -43 mL at t = 90 minutes (P < 0.05).ConclusionGastric MRI in RP is feasible for clinical research assessing gastric motor function. The subtle difference in meal emptying may be induced by posture-dependent vagal activity. This study confirms that MRI is a highly sensitive imaging technique for assessing gastrointestinal function in humans.(c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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