[Functional dyspepsia in liver cirrhosis].

Many patients with liver cirrhosis have dyspeptic complaints. Peptic ulcer, gallstones and oesophagitis are the most common causes of dyspepsia. Functional dyspepsia is infrequently investigated in liver cirrhosis. Sixty-two patients with liver cirrhosis and dyspepsia were submitted to endoscopic and sonographic investigation. In 28 of them no organic finding was detected. These cases were considered as having functional dyspepsia. 36% were of dysmotility-like type, 28% were ulcer- and reflux-like, each, and 7% were of idiopathic type. Aerophagia could not be taken in consideration as functional dyspepsia, due to portal hypertension. In comparison with a group of 30 patients with functional dyspepsia without liver cirrhosis, functional dyspepsia in liver cirrhosis is more frequent in men than in women and occurs about a decade later. In 12 subjects the gastric emptying of a semifluid meal estimated by sonography was normal. Functional dyspepsia is a reality in liver cirrhosis. Gastric emptying seems not to have a major role in the etiopathogenesis of such complaints.