[The excretion of H2 in the air expired by patients with pancreatic diseases].

In order to attain a diagnostic procedure able to detect intestinal malabsorption we studied the effect of rice flour ingestion (30 g) on H2 levels in the expired air of asymptomatic volunteers (n = 12) and in pancreas failure patients, either with (n = 15) or without steatorrhea (n = 13). The excretion of H2 in the expired air from pancreatopathic patients with steatorrhea were well above than those obtained from patients without steatorrhea (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that H2 breath test could be utilized to recognize intestinal malabsorption in individuals with exocrine pancreas disease.