American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 26, 1269-1283, Copyright © 1973 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Upper gastrointestinal radiologic findings in hyperlipoproteinemic subjects

¹ From the Departments of Medicine and Radiology, Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii 96808, and The University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Gastrointestinal symptoms (particularly bloating, gaseousness, and upper abdominal cramps) occur frequently in some hyperlipoproteinemic patients. To evaluate this further, upper gastrointestinal series were performed in 18 patients with type IV and 2 patients with secondary type II hyperlipoproteinemia, in 7 subjects with borderline abnormalities of lipid, carbohydrate, and/or uric acid metabolism, and in 5 normal subjects. Seventeen of the 20 patients were found to have antral or duodenal radiological changes (mucosal thickening, antral or bulbar deformity, or pyloric prolapse of gastric mucosa). Five of the seven "borderline" subjects had similar changes. Further study is warranted to determine the prevalence of these radiological findings in the various hyperlipoproteinemia types, and to evaluate the possible interrelationships of antral and duodenal structure and function, gastrointestinal hormone secretion, and lipoprotein metabolism.