Nutritional and Morphofunctional Assessment of Post-ICU Patients with COVID-19 at Hospital Discharge: NutriEcoMuscle Study.

This paper presents baseline results from the NutriEcoMuscle study, a multicenter observational study conducted in Spain which focused on changes in nutritional status, body composition, and functionality in post-intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 patients following a nutritional intervention. Assessments at hospital discharge included Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, the Barthel index, handgrip strength (HGS) and the Timed Up-and-Go test, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and nutritional ultrasound (US). The study involved 96 patients (71.9% male, mean age 58.8 years, mean BMI 28.8 kg/m2, 36.5% obese). All patients were malnourished at discharge according to GLIM and SGA. Functional status declined from admission up to hospital discharge. A total of 33.3% of patients had a low fat-free mass index (FFMI) and 29.5% had a low phase angle (PhA). Myosteatosis was observed in 83.7% of the population. There was a positive correlation between rectus femoris cross-sectional area, PhA, FFMI, and HGS. In conclusion, post-critically ill COVID-19 patients commonly suffer from malnutrition and reduced muscle mass, causing a loss of independence at hospital discharge. BIA and US could be valuable tools for assessing body composition in these patients. The NutriEcoMuscle study highlights the need for a thorough nutritional and morphofunctional status assessment of post-ICU patients.

[Controversy 1: Assessing nutritional status and sarcopenia, and calculating protein requirements. Should these be specific?] / Controversia 1. ¿Cómo realizar la valoración nutricional y de la sarcopenia, y el cálculo de requerimientos de proteínas necesarias? ¿Deben ser específicas?

Introduction: Controversy 1: Assessing nutritional status and sarcopenia, and calculating protein requirements. Should these be specific?

Introducción: Controversia 1. ¿Cómo realizar la valoración nutricional y de la sarcopenia, y el cálculo de requerimientos de proteínas necesarias? ¿Deben ser específicas?

Social and economic costs of home parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) is a lifesaving treatment for people with chronic intestinal failure. Although HPN has been studied from an economic point of view, the categories of costs usually included direct costs, frequently excluding personal costs and productivity costs. The purpose of the present paper was to study the total costs of HPN from a societal perspective. METHODS: Observational, retrospective, transverse study of all adult patients who were on HPN for more than 3 months and were treated at Gregorio Marañón University Hospital (Madrid, Spain), from June 2018-2019. Data on personal costs and productivity costs were collected from questionnaires completed by patients receiving HPN. We also updated the direct healthcare and non-healthcare costs studied by our group previously to Euros (€) for the year 2019. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were included. Personal costs were €729.49 per patient (€3.45 per patient per day) and productivity costs were €256.39 per patient (€1.21 per patient per day). Total HPN costs amounted to €14,460.87 per patient (€131.58 per patient per day). The direct healthcare and non-healthcare costs accounted for 96.46% of overall costs, the personal costs for the patients receiving HPN accounted for 2.62% and productivity costs for 0.92%. CONCLUSIONS: From a societal perspective, the direct healthcare and non-healthcare costs accounted for the majority of HPN expenditure, followed by personal costs and productivity costs.

Influence of resting energy expenditure on weight gain in adolescents taking second-generation antipsychotics.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Weight gain is an undesirable side effect of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). We performed this study to examine the influence of SGAs on resting energy expenditure (REE) and the relationship of REE to weight gain in adolescent patients. METHODS: Antipsychotic-naïve or quasi-naïve (<72 h of exposure to antipsychotics) adolescent patients taking olanzapine, quetiapine, or risperidone in monotherapy were followed up for one year. We performed a prospective study (baseline, 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment) based on anthropometric measurements, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and indirect calorimetry (Deltatrac™ II MBM-200) to measure REE. We also analyzed metabolic and hormonal data and adiponectin concentrations. RESULTS: Forty-six out of the 54 patients that started treatment attended at least 2 visits, and 16 completed 1 year of follow-up. Patients gained 10.8 ± 6.2 kg (60% in the form of fat mass) and increased their waist circumference by 11.1 ± 5.0 cm after 1 year of treatment. The REE/kg body mass ratio decreased (p = 0.027), and the REE/percentage fat-free mass (FFM) ratio increased (p = 0.007) following the fall in the percentage of FFM during treatment. Weight increase was significantly correlated with the REE/percentage FFM ratio at all the visits (1-3-6-12 months) (r = 0.69, p = 0.004 at 12 months). CONCLUSIONS: SGAs seem to induce a hypometabolic state (reflected as decreased REE/kg body mass and increased REE/percentage FFM). This could explain, at least in part, the changes in weight and body composition observed in these patients.

Prospective study of resting energy expenditure changes in head and neck cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy measured by indirect calorimetry.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of malnutrition is high in patients with head and neck cancer due to tumor location and coadjuvant treatment. We studied changes in resting energy expenditure (REE) during treatment with chemoradiotherapy and compared the measured REE by indirect calorimetry (IC) with the value estimated by the Harris-Benedict (HB) formula. METHODS: Eighteen patients with head and neck cancer (15 men and 3 women, mean age 57 +/- 10.7 y, age range 30-71 y) entered the study. All patients were treated with radiotherapy (70.8 +/- 1 Gy, range 70-72) and received 37.4 +/- 3.5 fractions (range 32-42) and concurrent chemotherapy with cisplatinum (absolute doses of 400 to 1000 mg). Nutrition assessment included anthropometry (body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness, midarm circumference, and midarm muscle circumference) and tetrapolar bioimpedance (Holtain BC). The IC (kcal/24 h; Deltatrac II MBM-200) was performed after an overnight fast. Measurements were done before treatment, at weeks 2, 4, and 6 of treatment, at the end of treatment, and 2 wk after treatment. RESULTS: Body mass index decreased during treatment from 24.7 +/- 4.4 kg/m(2) (range 16.9-31.4) to 22.3 +/- 4.2 kg/m(2) (range 15.1-29.6). REE (kcal/24 h) changed significantly during treatment (IC P < 0.05, HB formula P < 0.001). REE measured by IC appeared as a U-shaped curve, but REE estimated by the HB formula decreased during treatment. The HB underestimated REE measurements compared with IC. These differences were statistically significant before treatment, at the end of treatment, and 2 wk after treatment (P < 0.05) and showed a limited clinical agreement with the Bland-Altman method. CONCLUSIONS: REE measured by IC significantly changed during chemoradiotherapy. It was higher before treatment, at the end of treatment, and 2 wk after treatment. The HB formula underestimated REE in these patients. IC is a suitable method for measuring REE in this cohort of patients.