Abstract
The proper assessment and follow-up of obesity and sarcopenia are relevant for the proper management of the complications of cardiometabolic and musculoskeletal frailty. A total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan should be systematically incorporated in the rehabilitative routine management of patients with obesity and sarcopenia. In the former patients, the total body DXA can be used to assess the fat tissue amount and distribution, while in the latter patients, it can be used to quantify the reduction of appendicular lean mass and to investigate the inter-limb lean mass asymmetry. This tutorial article provides an overview of different DXA-derived fat and lean indices and describes a step-by-step procedure on how to produce a complete DXA report. We suggest that the systematic incorporation of these indices into routine examinations of the patients with obesity and sarcopenia can be useful for identifying the patients at risk for cardiometabolic and neuromuscular impairment-related comorbidities and for evaluating the effectiveness of pharmacological and rehabilitative interventions.
Highlights
Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that consists in a disorder of several inter-related systems (i.e., central nervous system, endocrine and immune systems, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and musculoskeletal system) presenting a decrease in the physiological reserve and a failure of the homeostatic mechanisms [1, 2]
Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that consists in a disorder of several inter-related systems presenting a decrease in the physiological reserve and a failure of the homeostatic mechanisms [1, 2]
Obesity and sarcopenia and their combination that is known as “sarcopenic obesity”
Summary
Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that consists in a disorder of several inter-related systems (i.e., central nervous system, endocrine and immune systems, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and musculoskeletal system) presenting a decrease in the physiological reserve and a failure of the homeostatic mechanisms [1, 2]. In the former patients, total body DXA can be used to assess the fat tissue amount and distribution, while in the latter patients, it can be used to quantify the reduction of appendicular lean mass and to investigate the inter-limb lean mass asymmetry [12].
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