The association of frailty and bedside body composition tools with total body potassium and body cell mass: a pilot study in adults with cirrhosis.

Abstract

The accurate assessment of body composition in cirrhosis is challenging as fluid accumulation affects most techniques. The whole-body counter is a state-of-the-art method that measures total body potassium (TBK) unbiased by fluid, from which body cell mass (BCM) is derived. This pilot study in 20 patients with cirrhosis evaluated bedside tools including the liver frailty index (LFI), bioimpedance analysis-based phase angle, calf circumference (CC), and BMI (body mass index)/edema-adjusted CC, and explored their association with TBK and BCM. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis and Pearson's correlation tests were conducted. Adjusted for sex, BCM and TBK were inversely associated with frailty (p < 0.0001). LFI r = -0.568 (p = 0.009), CC r = 0.484 (p = 0.031), and edema-adjusted CC r = 0.467 (p = 0.038), demonstrated moderate correlations with BCM. Further research involving a larger sample of participants is needed to confirm these findings associating these bedside tools and gold-standard body composition measures.