The bioelectrical impedance vector migration in healthy infants.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Detecting young children with high amount of body fat is important to intervene in the development of obesity. The aim of this study is to gain inside in the bioelectrical impedance vector analysis in healthy infants. METHODS: Repeated measurements of whole body reactance and resistance were assessed, using a 50kHz frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis, in 51 boys and 62 girls during infancy. Bivariate vector analysis, which can be used to determine tissue hydration and soft tissue mass, was conducted. The 95% confidence intervals of the mean vectors for different age groups and the 95%, 75% and 50% tolerance intervals were plotted, using resistance and reactance components standardized by the participant's height. RESULTS: During infancy impedance vectors changed significantly: A vector migration of the Xc/H of 8.50ohm/m and the R/H of -95.68ohm/m between the age of two months and eight to twelve months (p=0.0001) was observed. Bivariate, reference tolerance intervals of the impedance vectors for healthy infants at the age of two months are presented. CONCLUSION: Our results show a significant impedance vector migration during the first year of life. New reference tolerance intervals for the second month of life were constructed.

Is there a direct association between age-related eye diseases and mortality? The Rotterdam Study.

PURPOSE: To study mortality in subjects with age-related maculopathy (ARM), cataract, or open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in comparison with those without these disorders. DESIGN: Population-based prospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects (n = 6339) aged 55 years and older from the population-based Rotterdam Study for whom complete information on eye disease status was present. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vital status continuously monitored from 1990 until January 1, 2000. METHODS: The diagnosis of ARM was made according to the International Classification System. Cataract, determined on biomicroscopy, was defined as any sign of nuclear or (sub)cortical cataract, or both, in at least one eye with a visual acuity of 20/40 or less. Aphakia and pseudophakia in at least one eye were classified as operated cataract. Definite OAG was defined as a glaucomatous optic neuropathy combined with a glaucomatous visual field defect. Diagnoses were assessed at baseline. Mortality hazard ratios were computed using Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, adjusted for appropriate confounders (age, gender, smoking status, body mass index, cholesterol level, atherosclerosis, hypertension, history of cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus). RESULTS: The adjusted mortality hazard ratio for subjects with AMD (n = 104) was 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-1.68), with biomicroscopic cataract (n = 951) was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.74-1.21), with surgical cataract (n = 298) was 1.20 (95% CI, 0.86-1.68), and with definite OAG (n = 44) was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.10-1.55). CONCLUSIONS: Both ARM and cataract are predictors of shorter survival because they have risk factors that also affect mortality. When adjusted for these factors, ARM, cataract, and OAG were themselves not significantly associated with mortality.

Family score as an indicator of genetic risk of primary open-angle glaucoma.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the genetic risk of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in individuals by calculating a family score (FS), which summarizes the information of all relatives including their disease status, age, sex, and degree of kinship and to examine the genetic contribution to OAG with and without an increased intraocular pressure. METHODS: Case and control probands, derived from the Rotterdam Study, underwent the same ophthalmologic examination as their relatives. The FS of each proband was the sum of the differences between observed and expected values of OAG for all relatives. The FSs were compared between case and control probands using logistic regression analysis, adjusted for intraocular pressure. RESULTS: Of 37 case probands, 44 (half-) siblings and 86 children were available, and of 83 control probands there were 97 (half-) siblings and 155 children. Family scores ranged from -0.44 to 7.08 in case probands and from -0.98 to 2.46 in control probands. One unit increase in FS was significantly associated with a higher risk of OAG (odds ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.23). Adjustments for intraocular pressure did not change the odds ratio. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that the FS strongly predicts OAG, independent of the intraocular pressure. Therefore, the FS is useful to identify individuals with a high genetic risk.

Comparing ophthalmoscopy, slide viewing, and semiautomated systems in optic disc morphometry.

PURPOSE: To compare disc measurements obtained by indirect ophthalmoscopy, the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT), stereoscopic slide viewing (SSV) of color transparencies, and the Topcon ImageNet System (ImageNet). DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. METHODS: From the Rotterdam Study, 324 subjects (567 eyes) were nonselectively included. All underwent a full ophthalmologic examination in mydriasis. Vertical cup/disc ratios (VCDRs) were compared between all four methods and disc area (mm(2)), neural rim area (mm(2)), cup area (mm(2)), and cup volume (mm(3)) between HRT and ImageNet. RESULTS: Mean VCDR for ophthalmoscopy was 0.25 (standard error [SE], 0.007), for HRT 0.42 (SE, 0.008), for SSV 0.39 (SE, 0.010), and for ImageNet 0.50 (SE, 0.006). The correlation for VCDR between ophthalmoscopy, the two devices, and SSV was 0.42, respectively 0.57; between ImageNet and HRT 0.75. The 97.5th percentiles of the VCDR for ophthalmoscopy, HRT, SSV, and ImageNet were 0.80, 0.73, 0.80, and 0.73, respectively; the 99.5th percentiles thus were 0.90, 0.79, 0.86, and 0.79. The mean disc area, rim area, cup area, and cup volume were 2.08, 1.63, 0.45 mm(2) and 0.09 mm(3) for HRT, and 2.39, 1.77, 0.61 mm(2) and 0.16 mm(3) for ImageNet, respectively. The corresponding correlations for these four parameters were 0.67, 0.42, 0.81, and 0.82. CONCLUSIONS: Different techniques lead to considerable differences in disc morphometric values. ImageNet produced higher mean values compared with HRT and ophthalmoscopy. Ophthalmoscopy showed the lowest correlations and SSV the highest ones with the two semiautomated devices. Between ImageNet and HRT the correlation for all parameters was high except for the neural rim area.