Barium meal study for amyloidosis of the small intestine: measurements on radiograph.

In order to determine barium meal radiographic findings characteristic of amyloidosis, we measured the jejunal diameter, valvular width, and intervalvular distance in 25 patients with small bowel amyloidosis and in 30 control individuals, and compared the two groups with each other. As a result, jejunal diameter demonstrated no difference between amyloidosis cases and controls, while there was a significant difference in valvular width or intervalvular distance between the two groups. Our results indicate that objective estimates of the thickening of the valvulae and the shortening of the intervalvular distance by means of measurements of the given roentgenograms greatly contribute to the clinical diagnosis of this disease.