[Functional gastric diagnosis (author's transl)].

A method is described (isotope gastro-diagram) in which a radio-active labelled standard meal is used under physiological and phatological conditions; in this way the half-value time of gastric emptying can be used as an objective measure of gastric motor function, and which can be easily reproduced. This has become of clinical interest, particularly since the introduction of hypotonic and double contrast methods in radiological diagnosis. The clinical value of this method has been elucidated amongst surgical patients on whom pre- and post-operative measurements were carried out following selective vagotomies, combined with various types of pyloroplastry for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers.