Advanced Achalasia Mimicking Delayed Gastric Emptying During Standard Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy

An 82-year-old man underwent outpatient nuclear medicine gastric-emptying scintigraphy (GES) for dysphagia and regurgitation. Standard solid-meal GES showed significant elongated tracer retention with calculated 96% retention rate at 3 hours, with a presumed diagnosis of delayed gastric emptying. Subsequent CT of the chest and abdomen and upper gastrointestinal fluoroscopy instead showed normal size and function of the stomach but an enormously dilated esophagus with food debris, compatible with achalasia. Attention should be made on the location and shape of the visualized “stomach” and recognize that significantly dilated esophagus can mimic an elongated stomach during GES.
Source: Clinical Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Tags: Interesting Images Source Type: research