Use of I131-Labeled Protein in the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Insufficiency

Abstract

CHRONIC pancreatic insufficiency characteristically results in faulty digestion of fat and protein, with excessive loss of free fat and nitrogen in the stool. Accurate appraisal of the degree of fat and nitrogen loss necessitates metabolic-balance studies in which the amount ingested is compared with that excreted in the feces. The over-all problems connected with such observations make them too laborious and difficult to carry out in the hospital's general wards.Lavik and Miller¹ have recently described experiments in dogs before and after pancreatectomy using a meal of I131-labeled protein. They observed that the rise in radioactivity in the blood after . . .