THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF DUAL-ENERGY X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF BODY-COMPOSITION IN CIRRHOTIC-PATIENTS

Very little information is available on body composition in patients w ith cirrhosis. Difficulties arise in studying these patients because t hey tend to retain fluid and this results in changes in tissue density and in the hydration fraction of fat-free mass. As the classic body c omposition techniques rely on the assumption that these variables rema in constant, use of these methods will result in either under- or over estimates of body composition variables. Use of multicomponent models, employing two or more measurement techniques, will obviate the need f or some of the assumptions inherent in the use of single techniques, t hereby increasing the accuracy of the assessments without loss of prec ision. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry can be used to measure total b ody bone mineral, fat, and fat-free soft tissue mass. In healthy indiv iduals excellent agreement is observed between data obtained using thi s technique and data obtained from the more established reference meth ods. However, the degree to which the absorptiometry measurements of s oft tissue are sensitive to changes in hydration is not known. Thus, i n order to assess this method of body composition analysis in patients with chronic liver disease, a multicomponent model must be devised wh ich incorporates the absorptiometry technique and allows cross-validat ion of the individual component measures. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 19 97.