Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · May 2000
Multicenter StudyWaist circumference and sagittal diameter reflect total body fat better than visceral fat in older men and women. The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.
The validity of waist circumference and sagittal diameter as surrogate measures of visceral fat were assessed using preliminary cross-sectional data from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study, a cohort of 3,075 men and women aged 70-79. Weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist/thigh ratio, and sagittal diameter were compared by correlation, graphical analysis, and regression to total body fat as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic 4500A), and to visceral fat area as measured by computerized tomography. ⋯ However, waist circumference, sagittal diameter, weight, and body mass index were more closely related to total body fat than to visceral fat area (R2 for the linear regression of waist circumference on total body fat was 0.69 in women and men; R2 for linear regression of waist circumference on visceral fat area was 0.40 in women, and 0.49 in men). These data suggest that the contribution of visceral fat to health risks will be better assessed by directly measuring this fat depot.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · May 2000
Similarity of changes in body composition in intensive care patients following severe sepsis or major blunt injury.
Critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit with severe sepsis or major blunt injury undergo massive changes in body composition. We compared these changes in 12 patients with generalized peritonitis, and in 18 patients with major blunt injury over a 21-day period soon after their admission. Body composition was measured as soon as the patients were hemodynamically stable, and again 5, 10, and 21 days later. ⋯ Total body water (TBW) lost postresuscitation averaged 11.1 +/- 1.3 L and 6.7 +/- 1.1 L for the two groups, respectively, these changes largely being accounted for by changes in extracellular water (ECW). Our results demonstrate a striking similarity in the changes in total body protein for these two groups of critically ill patients. The sepsis patients retained approximately twice the volume of fluid of those with major trauma.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · May 2000
Comparative StudyTotal body dual X-ray absorptiometry is a good measure of both fat mass and fat-free mass in liver cirrhosis compared to "gold-standard" techniques. Melbourne Liver Group.
Liver cirrhosis is a condition in which overnutrition, edema, and undernutrition can coexist simultaneously, or successively, over a period of time, giving rise to alterations in body composition, as well as systemic and multiorgan manifestations. We undertook a cross-sectional study of body composition in 198 adult patients with liver cirrhosis (140 males, mean age 53.6, range 31-85 years; and 58 females, mean age 58.4, range 36-79 years). The patients had cirrhosis of differing etiology and different stages of severity. ⋯ In cirrhosis, DXA is a good and widely available method to assess both fat mass and fat-free mass. However, it cannot give information about the quality of the FFM, particularly its water content. The bedside methods of anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance, both SFBIA and MFBIA, are poor methods of measuring body composition in patients with liver cirrhosis, whereas whole body gamma counting, although not widely available, also significantly differs from the gold-standard method of assessment of fat-free mass and fat mass in liver cirrhosis.