Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis for the Evaluation of Hepatic Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection

Abstract

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a non-invasive technique that measures electrical resistance (R) and reactance (Xc), which are then used to calculate phase angle (PA). The aim of this pilot study was to assess whether BIA can differentiate between minimal and advanced hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection. Twenty patients with HCV participated in this study, and were divided into minimal (Metavir 1) and advanced (Metavir 3 or 4) fibrosis groups. We obtained BIA measurements (R and Xc) in several axes and calculated PA from each pair of measurements. We found no statistically significant differences between the two groups with respect to PA, R, or Xc for the whole body, the trunk or the right upper quadrant measurements in any axis. Mean whole body PA was 7.0 and 7.1 (P = 0.9) in the minimal and advanced fibrosis groups, respectively. Bioelectrical impedance analysis did not demonstrate the ability to distinguish between minimal and advanced degrees of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV infection.

Evaluation of nutritional indicators and body composition in patients with advanced liver disease enrolled for liver transplantation

“…As reported in other study 10 BIA relationship with body composition is indirect and not completely understood. On the other hand, PA has been negatively correlated as a prognostic factor in many conditions such as neoplastic disease, hemodialysis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV, including decompensate liver cirrhosis [27][28][29] .…”

“…In recent studies [8][9][10] , electrical bioimpedance (BIA) and its vectors in particular has been proposed for body composition analysis of patients with chronic liver disease 11 .…”

Bioelectrical impedance analysis in clinical practice: implications for hepatitis C therapy BIA and hepatitis C

“…However, there are no data on body composition in patients with HCV infection before and after antiviral treatment which is an important factor for treatment decisions, especially if supplemental therapy is needed. Indeed, interferon-α (IFN-α) and ribavirin treatment in HCV is often associated with fatigue, cephalgia, weight loss, flu-like syndromes, and anorexia [22], implying changes in nutritional status and body composition [23]. …”

Avaliação dos indicadores nutricionais e da composição corporal em hepatopatas crônicos e a relação com a etiologia e gravidade da doença

“…A mensuração da composição corpórea é essencial para avaliar a verdadeira extensão de desnutrição em pacientes com cirrose hepática e alguns estudos recentes (38,39) sugerem o uso da BIA para esta mensuração. A BIA tem sido utilizada em pacientes com cirrose (87,91,95) para identificar pacientes com maior probabilidade de risco de mortalidade no transplante.…”

“…Em estudos recentes (3,20,(38)(39)(40) tem-se utilizado a bioimpedância elétrica (principalmente os seus vetores) para análise da composição corporal dos pacientes hepatopatas crônicos.…”