Abstract
A prospective study in which the value of four stool screening tests of malabsorption was assessed demonstrated that the Sudan stain for fat, with or without heat and acid, microscopic search for meat fibers and radiotriolein excretion, but not the gelatin film tests, was accurate in 69–79% of studies. Accuracy was lowest in mild steatorrhea and because of this, screening tests were least helpful in patients in whom these tests might have realized their greatest potential value for clinical diagnosis. With high meat intake, stool meal fibers proved as good as, or better than, the other methods for testing for nonspecific malabsorption. The gelatin film test, stool meat fibers and the differential results of the Sudan test before and after heat and acid were of no specific value in distinguishing patients with pancreatic insufficiency from those with other causes of malabsorption; their use for this purpose should be abandoned.
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Supported in part by Training Grant in Gastroenterology, 5 T01 Am 5206, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
The authors wish to acknowledge Mr. James Wayne for his technical assistance and Mrs. Claudia McNair and Mrs. Taunia Housley for their secretarial aid.
Work performed during Student Fellowships in Gastroenterology and Postgraduate Traineeship in Gastroenterology.
Work performed during Summer Student Fellowship in Gastroenterology; present address: Box 739, William Beaumont General Hospital. El Paso, Tex 79920.
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Moore, J.G., Englert, E., Bigler, A.H. et al. Simple fecal tests of absorption. Digest Dis Sci 16, 97–105 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02284442
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02284442