Noninvasive Markers of Functional Nausea in Children

Functional nausea (FN) is a GI disorder that affects millions of Americans, particularly
adolescents, but diagnoses remain largely exclusionary relying on symptomology with an
otherwise normal diagnostic workup.

Successful completion of the project could contribute to understanding the altered physiology
of functional nausea (FN), to stratification of FN patients according to physiological and/or
psychological phenotypes, to improve diagnosis and provide objective measures of nausea and
to inform and guide treatment options.

The analysis of slow wave activity represents the first physiologically-quantifiable
noninvasive assessment method for pathological processes associated with functional nausea in
adolescents.

Inclusion Criteria:

- children ages 8-17 with functional nausea

- normal control participants ages 8-17 who have no known gastrointestinal complications

Exclusion Criteria:

- Those with claustrophobia who cannot lie still under the SQUID for the length of time
required.

- Normal participants with known intestinal complications

- Patients with cyclic vomiting syndrome, gastroparesis, malignancy, primary eating
disorders, pregnancy, or hyperglycemia

- Morbid obesity (these patients are presumably unable to lie under the current
generation of SQUID devices).

- Patients with a history of cardiac arrhythmias or taking anticoagulants will be
excluded