Correlation between visceral fat area and abdominal aortic calcification in hemodialysis patients based on bioelectrical impedance methods

Abstract

Objective  To investigate the correlation between visceral fat area (VFA) and abdominal aortic calcification in patients with maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Methods  Via cross-sectional survey,MHD patients in Beijing Luhe Hospital,Capital Medical University from April 2019 to May 2020 with complete data were selected and subjected to body composition analysis,excluding malnourished patients. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to the degree of calcium by Abdominal Aortic Calcification Score (AACs),and the clinical characteristics and VFA level were compared. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC),and the predictive value of VFA level to abdominal aortic calcification was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.  Results  A total of 152 patients with MHD were included in this study and divided into non-AAC group (n=32),mild AAC group (n=45),moderate AAC group (n=54) and severe AAC group (n=21). There were statistically significant differences in serum phosphorus,intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH),high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C),VFA and whether diabetes mellitus was combined among 4 groups (P < 0.05). Univariate correlation showed that AACs score of non-malnourished MHD patients was significantly positively correlated with diabetes,serum phosphorus,iPTH,and VFA level (r=0.188,0.238,0.223,0.392,P < 0.05),was negatively correlated with HDL-C level (r=-0.228,P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that VFA and serum phosphorus were independent risk factors for AAC in MHD patients. ROC curve showed that the area under curve (AUC) of VFA in non-malnourished MHD patients for predicting AAC was 0.725 (P < 0.05),which had high predictive value. Conclusion  For non-malnourished MHD patients,elevated VFA is associated with the severity of AAC and is an independent risk factor for AAC,which may be a biological indicator for predicting the occurrence of AAC.

Keywords

maintenance hemodialysis / body composition analysis / visceral fat area / abdominal aortic calcification