PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dacian V Bonta
AU  - David C Brandon
AU  - Jeranfel Hernandez
AU  - Minesh Patel
AU  - Sandra Grant
AU  - Naomi Alazraki
TI  - Clinical Intervention for Quality Improvement of Gastric-Emptying Studies
AID  - 10.2967/jnmt.114.146167
DP  - 2014 Nov 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
PG  - jnmt.114.146167
4099  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/11/jnmt.114.146167.short
4100  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/11/jnmt.114.146167.full
AB  - Prompted by clinical concerns for false-negative tests, we implemented a clinical intervention consisting of a training session and an image-based verification procedure to document homogeneous radioactivity distribution in the radiolabeled meal (egg substitute per the guideline). Methods: A technologist training session emphasized the importance of thorough mixing of 99mTc-sulfur colloid in the egg meal. For 6 mo after training, an image of the prepared mixed egg was acquired before patient ingestion. Consecutive gastric-emptying studies performed 6 mo before and after training were reviewed by 2 experienced physicians. Results: There were 7 abnormal and 44 normal studies before and 15 abnormal and 29 normal studies after training (P < 0.05). Subjective evaluations of images for meal-mixing quality by 2 readers correlated with each other and with an objective measure of expected gastric-emptying physiology (correlation coefficients, 0.54 and 0.38, respectively). Conclusion: The described clinical intervention improved the accuracy of our gastric-emptying studies by decreasing false-negative studies.