One-year follow-up of the nutritional status of patients undergoing liver transplantation

Background: Choosing the method of nutritional assessment is essential for proper follow-up of the nutritional status of patients undergoing liver transplantation. Objectives: Evaluate and compare the nutritional status of cirrhotic patients before and after liver transplantation over a year by different methods of nutritional assessment. Methods: Patients undergoing liver transplantation were assessed in five phases: pre-transplant, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after transplantation at the hospital Santa Casa de Misericordia de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. The methods used for nutritional assessment were anthropometry, grip strength of the non-dominant hand (HGS) by dynamometry, thickness of the adductor pollicis muscle (APM) and phase angle (PA) by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). In all evaluations, the same measurements were taken. Results: Evaluations were performed in 22 patients. Methods that showed a higher prevalence of malnourished patients before transplantation were PA by BIA (25%), arm muscle circumference (AMC) (21.9%) and arm circumference (AC) (18.8%). When comparing the nutritional status of patients during follow-up, there was a significant difference only in the evaluation methods AC, triceps skinfold thickness and PA by BIA. At the end, the methods of nutritional assessment were compared again. They showed a significant statistical difference, with HGS being the best method for detecting malnutrition. Conclusions: In conclusion, it is suggested that the method PA by BIA could be widely used with this population since the results are consistent with other findings in the literature and they are significant, reliable, and reproducible.

Effect of a weight loss program in obese adolescents: a long-term follow-up

Objectives: Obesity during adolescence is an increasing health problem in industrial countries. The comorbidities associated with obesity include important metabolic diseases. Methods: To analyze the effect of a weight-loss program, we recruited 12 obese, male adolescents before entering this program. We determined body weight measures at baseline, 6-week and 36-month follow-up. Also, the long-term changes of blood pressure, HbAlc, and CRP were evaluated. Twenty healthy age-matched adolescents served as controls. Results: Within the intervention group ((body mass index [BMI, kg/m²] > 95th percentile for age and sex, age 13-17 years) the BMI and BMI-standard deviation score [SDS] were significantly reduced in the 6-week follow-up after completing the weight loss program. However, the significant weight-reduction effect was not persistent until the 36-month follow-up. Conclusion: The 6-week weight-loss program had beneficial short-term effects on body weight, BMI, and BMI-SDS in obese adolescents, but these effects could not be maintained until the 36-month follow-up.