Evaluation of Gastric Volumes: Comparison of 3-D Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

To investigate gastric accommodation, accurate measurements of gastric volumes are necessary. An excellent technique to measure gastric volumes is dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Unfortunately, dynamic MRI is expensive and not always available. A new 3-D ultrasound (US) method using a matrix transducer was developed to measure gastric volumes. In this prospective study, 14 healthy volunteers underwent a dynamic MRI and a 3-D US. Gastric volumes were calculated with intra-gastric liquid content and total gastric volume. Mean postprandial liquid gastric content was 397 ± 96.5 mL. Mean volume difference was 1.0 mL with limits of agreement of −8.9 to 10.9 mL. When gastric air was taken into account, mean total gastric volume was 540 ± 115.4 mL SD. Mean volume difference was 2.3 mL with limits of agreement of −21.1 to 26.4 mL. The matrix 3-D US showed excellent agreement with dynamic MRI. Therefore matrix 3-D US is a reliable alternative to measure gastric volumes.