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Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to Measure Fat Mass in Infants and Children
Author(s) -
Andres Aline,
GomezAcevedo Horacio,
Badger Thomas M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2011.215
Subject(s) - nuclear medicine , medicine , fat mass , deuterium , coefficient of variation , mathematics , body weight , physics , statistics , atomic physics
Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (QMR) is being used in human adults to obtain measures of total body fat mass (FM) with high precision. The current study assessed a device specially designed to accommodate infants and children between 3 and 50 kg (EchoMRI‐AH). Body composition of 113 infants and children (3.3–49.9 kg) was assessed using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA), air displacement plethysmography (ADP, PeaPod for infants ≤8 kg and BodPod for children ≥6 years) and QMR. Results were compared with the deuterium oxide dilution technique (D 2 O) and a four‐compartment model (4‐C). The percentages of compliance were: 98% QMR; 75% DXA; 94% BodPod; and 95% PeaPod. Although QMR precision was high (coefficient of variation = 1.42%), it overestimated FM ∼10% compared to the 4‐C model and underestimated FM by ∼4% compared to the deuterium method in children ≥6 years. QMR was less concordant with 4‐C or D 2 O models for infants ≤8 kg. Thus, a piece‐wise defined model for mathematically fitting the QMR data to the D 2 O data was employed and this adjustment improved the accuracy relative to D 2 O and 4‐C for infants. Our results suggest that the pediatric QMR with appropriate mathematical adjustment provides a fast and precise method for assessing FM longitudinally in infants and in children weighing up to 50 kg.