Assessment of body composition in dialysis patients by arm bioimpedance compared to MRI and K measurements

This study used multi-frequency bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) of the arm and whole body to estimate muscle mass (MM) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in 31 hemodialysis (HD) patients comparing these results with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and body potassium (⁴⁰K) as gold standards. Total body and arm MM (MM_MRI) and SAT (SAT_MRI) were measured by MRI. All measurements were made before dialysis treatment. Regression models with the arm (aBIS) and whole body (wBIS) resistances were established. Correlations between gold standards and the BIS model were high for the arm SAT (r² = 0.93, standard error of estimate (SEE) = 3.6 kg), and whole body SAT (r² = 0.92, SEE = 3.5 kg), and for arm MM (r ² = 0.84, SEE = 2.28 kg) and whole body MM (r² = 0.86, SEE = 2.28 kg). Total body MM and SAT can be accurately predicted by arm BIS models with advantages of convenience and portability, and it should be useful to assess nutritional status in HD patients.