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The use of an acrylic board to separate regions of interest during dual energy x‐ray absorptiometry scanning in extremely obese women
Author(s) -
Earthman Carrie P,
Valentine Bret J,
Sibley Shalamar D,
Beckman Tiffany R,
Kellogg Todd A,
Ikramuddin Sayeed,
Dobratz Jennifer R
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.1087.3
Subject(s) - dual energy x ray absorptiometry , medicine , overlay , dual energy , nuclear medicine , fat mass , body weight , radiology , orthodontics , bone mineral , computer science , osteoporosis , programming language
Dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a noninvasive and clinically accessible tool for measuring body composition; however, there are methodological limitations for application in extreme obesity. Size and weight in excess of instrument capacity, and tissue overlay are important issues. The study objective was to evaluate the use of an acrylic board for the resolution of breast overlay in women undergoing half‐body DXA scans. This was a cross‐sectional study of extremely obese women (n=18; BMI: 46.8±7.6 kg/m2; age: 47.9±10.1 y). Three techniques (no support; gauze taping; and a ½ × 14 × 12 inch acrylic board) were evaluated for separating regional areas of interest, in sequential scans. For estimates of truncal right‐sided fat mass (FM), there was no difference between no support and taping (P = 0.903). The acrylic board yielded significantly lower truncal FM results compared to no support (−1123±1704g; P=0.010) and to taping (−1051±1711g; P=0.022). Use of an acrylic board provided the best regional separation. Precision between scans was good, with coefficients of variation of 2.8%, 2.3%, and 4.4% for right leg FM, lean mass (LM), and bone mineral content (BMC), respectively. There were no differences in the right leg FM, LM, or BMC values across the 3 scans by ANOVA. An acrylic board placed under the armpit can be utilized to resolve the problem of breast overlay in extremely obese women undergoing DXA scans.