Differences in the Evaluation of Malnutrition and Body Composition Using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, Nutritional Ultrasound, and Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry in Patients with Heart Failure.

Background: Although malnutrition is frequently observed in patients with heart failure (HF), this diagnosis should be performed carefully since HF itself is associated with increased inflammatory activity, which affects body weight, functionality, and some nutritional parameters; thus, its isolated interpretation can erroneously identify surrogate markers of severity as markers of malnutrition. In this context, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition using different classification systems and perform a comprehensive nutritional evaluation to determine the reliability of different diagnostic techniques.

Patients And Methods: Eighty-three patients with a recent hospital admission due to HF were evaluated. GLIM diagnosis criteria and subjective global assessment (SGA) were performed; a comprehensive anthropometric, functional, and biochemical nutritional evaluation was performed, in which bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), nutritional ultrasound, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were performed. Additionally, mortality and additional admissions due to HF were determined after a mean follow up of 18 months.

Results: Malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria (54%) accurately distinguished patients with impaired functionality, lower lean mass, skeletal mass index, and appendicular muscle mass (BIA), as well as lower trunk fat mass, trunk lean mass, fat-free mass (DXA), and decreased albumin and increased C-reactive protein serum levels. According to SGA, there were significant changes in body composition parameters determined by BIA, muscle ultrasound, and functional tests between well-nourished patients and patients with risk of malnutrition (53.7%) or who had malnutrition (7.1%), but not when the last two groups were compared. BIA and DXA showed strong correlations when evaluating muscle and fat mass in HF patients, but correlations with nutritional ultrasound were limited, as well as functional tests. A multivariate analysis showed that no significant association was observed between body composition and mortality, but preperitoneal fat was associated with an increased risk of new hospital admissions (OR: 0.73).

Conclusions: GLIM criteria identified a lower percentage of patients with HF and malnutrition compared with SGA; thus, SGA could have a role in preventing malnutrition in HF patients. Nutritional evaluation with BIA and DXA in patients with HF showed reliable results of body composition parameters in HF, and both help with the diagnosis of malnutrition according to the GLIM or SGA criteria and could provide complementary information in some specific cases.