No abstract

Accurate measurement of central fat patterning is difficult to obtain by conventional anthropometry. Direct measurement of intra-abdominal fat area by magnetic resonance imaging, while accurate, is impractical for large-scale observational studies. This report examines the sex-specific associations of conventional anthropometric indices with intra-abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat areas measured by magnetic resonance imaging. A total of 157 volunteers (97 men and 60 women) aged 48-68 years of predominately white ethnicity had intra-abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat areas measured as part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist : hip ratio, and subscapular skinfold thickness were measured or calculated by a standardized protocol. On average, women had a lower intra-abdominal fat area than men (109.5 cm2 vs. 152.9 cm2) but a higher mean subcutaneous fat area (287.8 cm2 vs. 214.6 cm2). After adjustment for age, intra-abdominal fat area was quadratically associated with body mass index, waist circumference, weight, and subscapular skinfold thickness in men; in women, these associations were best modeled by a positive linear equation. Waist : hip ratio was linearly related to intra-abdominal fat area in both sexes. In general, anthropometric measures predicted lower percentages of the total variance in intra-abdominal fat area for men than for women. For subcutaneous fat area, all anthropometric indices were linearly associated and predicted more of the variance in subcutaneous fat area than in intra-abdominal fat area. These results indicate that among men, greater intra-abdominal fat deposition rates occur at relatively low body weights and fat is more uniformly deposited at higher weights. Women appear to deposit intra-abdominal fat at a constant rate as they gain weight, even after menopause. The authors conclude that when waist circumference or body mass index is used as a surrogate for intra-abdominal fat area in men, a quadratic term should be included in the analysis as a predictor variable. Subcutaneous fat area can be estimated well by linear measures commonly employed in epidemiologic studies.

Objective: In a retrospective review to assess neuroanatomical targets of radiation-induced cognitive decline, dose volume histogram (DVH) analyses of specific brain regions of interest (ROI) are correlated to neurocognitive performance in 57 primary brain tumor survivors.Methods: Neurocognitive assessment at baseline included Trail Making Tests A/B, a modified Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure, California or Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Digit Span, and Controlled Oral Word Association. DVH analysis was performed for multiple neuroanatomical targets considered to be involved in cognition. The %v10 (percent of ROI receiving 10 Gy), %v40, and %v60 were calculated for each ROI. Factor analysis was used to estimate global cognition based on a summary of performance on individual cognitive tests. Stepwise regression was used to determine which dose volume predicted performance on global factors and individual neurocognitive tests for each ROI.Results: Regions that predicted global cognitive outcomes at doses ,60 Gy included the corpus callosum, left frontal white matter, right temporal lobe, bilateral hippocampi, subventricular zone, and cerebellum. Regions of adult neurogenesis primarily predicted cognition at %v40 except for the right hippocampus which predicted at %v10. Regions that did not predict global cognitive outcomes at any dose include total brain volume, frontal pole, anterior cingulate, right frontal white matter, and the right precentral gyrus. Conclusions:Modeling of radiation-induced cognitive decline using neuroanatomical target theory appears to be feasible. A prospective trial is necessary to validate these data. Neurology Figure; RT 5 radiotherapy; SVZ 5 subventricular zone; WBI 5 whole-brain irradiation.

Background and purpose Management for in-field failures after thoracic radiation is poorly defined. We evaluated SBRT as an initial or second course of treatment re-irradiating in a prior high dose region. Materials and methods Thirty-three patients were treated with re-irradiation defined by the prior 30 Gy isodose line. Kaplan–Meier estimates were performed for local (LC), regional (RC), distant control (DC), and overall survival (OS). The plans when available were summed to evaluate doses to critical structures. Patient and treatment variables were analyzed on UVA for the impact on control and survival measures. Results Median follow-up was 17 months. Treatment for sequential courses was as follows: (course1:course2) EBRT:SBRT (24 patients), SBRT:SBRT (7 patients), and SBRT:EBRT (3 patients). Median re-irradiation dose and fractionation was 50 Gy and 10 fractions (fx), with a median of 18 months (6–61) between treatments. Median OS was 21 months and 2 year LC 67%, yet LC for >1 fraction was 88% (p = 0.006 for single vs. multiple). 10 patients suffered chronic grade 2–3 toxicity (6 chest wall pain, 3 dyspnea, 1 esophagitis) and 1 grade 5 toxicity with aorta-esophageal fistula after 54 Gy in 3 fx for a central tumor with an estimated EQD2 to the aorta of 200 Gy. Conclusion Tumor control can be established with re-irradiation using SBRT techniques for in-field thoracic failures at the cost of manageable toxicity.