Motility of the gastric fundus

¹ Section of Physiology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota

This study was undertaken to define the motor activity of the fundus of the stomach. Observations were made on six healthy dogs with vagally innervated mucosal septal pouches of the fundus of the stomach and four other healthy dogs with identical pouches of the corpus of the stomach. In each dog the motor actions of the esophagus, gastroesophageal sphincter, gastric pouch, and gastric antrum were recorded simultaneously. The commonest motor activity recorded from the pouches of the fundus was a slow, phasic change in pressure or tone designated as a type III wave. Tiny pressure changes occurring at a rate of 5/min and identical to type I waves seen elsewhere in the stomach were sometimes recorded. Large "fundic" waves, occurring, when they were rhythmic, at a rate of about 3/min were occasionally seen on the records. Relaxation of the pouch of the fundus occurred after the majority of swallows, confirming the observation of other investigators that receptive relaxation of the fundus is an important component of the response to deglutition.

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