Diabetic oesophagoparesis: Assessment by solid phase radionuclide scintigraphy

Oesophageal function was assessed by solid phase radionuclide scintigraphy in 13 normal volunteers and 23 patients with diabetes mellitus. The diabetics had significantly delayed oesophageal emptying times 23 min versus 7.6 min in normals (p < 0.02). In addition, the diabetics had significantly more oesophageal activity at 5 and 10 min than normals (p < 0.03). These differences were unrelated to the age of the patients. Despite these population differences, no clear relationship was seen within the diabetic population between oesophageal emptying time and duration of disease, insulin dose, or presence of neuropathy. Oesophageal emptying time was only weakly correlated with gastric emptying times (r = 0.37, p < 0.03). These data indicate that by using sensitive radionuclide techniques, abnormalities of oesophageal emptying are common in diabetics, even in those without evidence of other end-organ complications of diabetes.