Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) frequently complain about dyspeptic symptoms. We set out to test whether changes in antral emptying or antral distension may account for these dyspeptic symptoms in AIDS.

METHODS:

We studied antral emptying in ten patients with HIV infection (CDC 1993 classification stage C) by means of an established real-time ultrasonographic method. Organic abdominal lesions had been excluded. Six upper gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated using a score ranging from 0 to 3. Fifteen subjects without any abdominal complaints and without any abdominal history served as controls. Antral cross sectional area was measured after an overnight fast and at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 min after an semisolid test meal. Antral postprandial distension was expressed using an antral expansion ratio (postcibal antral area/fasting antral area). Gastric emptying of the test meal was derived from the measurement of the area under the postcibal antral distension curve (AUC).

RESULTS:

Fasting antral cross sectional area and AUC (gastric emptying) were similar in both groups. Antral postprandial expansion tended to be lower in AIDS patients compared to controls (mean+/-S.D.): 288+/-84 versus 397+/-156%; P=0.08. In AIDS patients the symptom score of dyspepsia showed a positive correlation (r=0.55; P<0.05) with fasting antral area and a negative correlation (r=-0.62; P<0.05) with postprandial expansion. No signs of autonomic neuropathy were to be found in the AIDS patients tested in this study.

CONCLUSION:

A wider fasting antral cross sectional area and an impaired antral postprandial expansion are related to dyspeptic symptoms in AIDS patients. This suggests the same relationship between dyspeptic symptoms and disturbed antral distension as seen in other patients with functional dyspepsia.