• María Soto-Célix, Silvia Martínez-Blanco, Ana Del-Riego-Valledor, and Alberto Miján-de-la-Torre.
• Unidad de Nutrición Clínica, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Burgos, Burgos, Spain. Electronic address: msotocelix@gmail.com.
• Nutrition. 2019 Jul 1; 63-64: 87-91.

ObjectivesAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex disease that involves malnutrition and a profound depletion in muscle mass. The thickness of the adductor pollicis muscle (APM) has been proposed as a new anthropometric technique to estimate muscle mass, check early changes, and assess its evaluation. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and validity of the APM thickness in a cohort of malnourished patients with AN when checking local mass gain. The Doppler ultrasound maybe an affordable and useful method to discriminate all tissues around the APM area.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted of 31 malnourished patients with AN who were admitted to the Regional Eating Disorders Unit for treatment, including re-alimentation. Anthropometric measurements were taken, including arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, arm muscle circumference, body mass index, and APM thickness of both hands. Simultaneously, a Doppler ultrasound was performed in the same area, measuring and discriminating fat, skin, and muscle tissues around the APM.ResultsNutritional improvement is accompanied by fat, but not muscle gain in the hand in the adductor pollicis area of patients with AN. A Doppler ultrasound can accurately discriminate between tissues around the APM.ConclusionsAPM thickness reflects the addition of two different muscles plus fat and skin; therefore, this tool is not reliable to assess APM mass.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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