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Areae Gastricae Visualization

A Question of Age or Mobility

Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers St. Vincent's Hospital, Manhattan New York, NY 10011

I read with considerable interest the recent article by Charagundla et al. [1]. Many years ago, I conducted a study that compared the rates of areae gastricae visualization in upper gastrointestinal tract series performed with and without glucagon administration. Although ultimately not published, the data revealed that glucagon-aided studies took longer to perform and incidentally had a higher rate of visualization of the areae gastricae. The reviewers of the manuscript suggested that it was the longer contact time for the barium and mucosa that resulted in the observed differences in the study, and not the use of glucagon per se. I now wonder whether the differences Charagundla et al. observed might not be associated only with age, thinning of the mucus layer, or the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori. Instead, or in addition, the age-related rate of visualization may be a consequence of the longer period of time needed by elderly patients to complete the turns required to properly coat the gastric mucosa.

References

1. Charagundla SR, Levine MS, Langlotz CP, Rubesin SE, Laufer I. Visualization of areae gastricae on double-contrast upper gastrointestinal radiography: relationship to age of patients. AJR 2001;177:61 -63[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Reply

A Question of Age or Mobility

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104

We thank Dr. Javors for his interest in our recent article on the relationship between age and visualization of areae gastricae on double-contrast upper gastrointestinal tract examinations [1]. Javors speculates whether increased visualization of areae gastricae in older patients may be related to the longer period of time needed for these individuals to turn on the table in order to properly coat the gastric mucosa. To our knowledge, however, no published data address the effect of examination time on visualization of areae gastricae.

Our experience has been that visualization or lack of visualization of areae gastricae on double-contrast studies can be recognized early in the examination, as soon as the patient completes the initial set of turns, and that these structures do not generally become more prominent over the course of the study. As indicated in our article [1], we suspect that greater visualization of areae gastricae in older people is related to a higher prevalence of Helicobacter pylori gastritis, the thinning of the gastric mucosa layer that occurs with aging, or both, rather than to any technical factors associated with performing these studies in older patients.

References

1. Charagundla SR, Levine MS, Langlotz CP, Rubesin SE, Laufer I. Visualization of areae gastricae on double-contrast upper gastrointestinal radiography: relationship to age of patients. AJR 2001;177:61 -63

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Javors, B. R. Articles by Langlotz, C. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Javors, B. R. Articles by Langlotz, C. P. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?