RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Body composition in COPD patients; benefits of segmental assessment
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P4489
VO 44
IS Suppl 58
A1 Daniela Gologanu
A1 Diana Ionita
A1 Teodora Gartonea
A1 Cristina Stanescu
A1 Miron Bogdan
YR 2014
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4489.abstract
AB Background: Body composition assessment is useful in COPD patients for the evaluation of muscular depletion responsible for low exercise capacity.Aims: (a) to describe body composition in COPD patients referred to pulmonary rehabilitation; (b) to examine the relationships between body composition and exercise capacity; (c) to test if segmental wasting of lower limbs muscle mass correlates with exercise capacity.Method: 50 consecutive COPD patients referred for rehabilitation performed six minutes walking test (6MWT) and body composition assessment by direct segmental multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis.Results: The prevalence of nutritional depletion (low body mass index and/or low fat free mass index - FFMI) among our COPD patients was 20%. 16% of the patients had low FFMI and 54 % had low SMMI (skeletal muscle mass index). FFMI and SMMI both correlated significantly with 6MWD (r=0.352, p=0.012, and r=0.312, p=0.027, respectively). The segmental body composition assessment revealed that 76% of the patients had unbalanced upper/lower skeletal muscle mass, i.e. mean upper limbs lean mass predicted was greater than lower limb lean mass predicted: 108,8% versus 87,3% These “unbalanced“ patients had significantly lower mean 6MWD: 361.5 m versus 434.6 m, p= 0.038 in “balanced” patients.Conclusions: .The percentage of patients with low SMMI was greater than those with low FFM. FFMI and SSMI correlated significantly with 6MWD. Segmental body composition assessment revealed that “unbalanced” patients had significantly lower 6MWD. These results show that SMMI and segmental body composition evaluation are useful for an early detection of muscular impairment in COPD patients.