Association between physical and echographic fat thickness assessments and a lipodystrophy grading scale in lipodystrophic HIV patients: practical implications.

A simple diagnostic method for detecting in clinical routine HAART-associated lipodystrophy in HIV-infected patients is lacking. We studied the relationships between the scores obtained with a subjective lipodystrophy severity grading scale (LSGS) and standard anthropometric and echographic measurements of the subcutaneous and visceral fat thickness of 74 HIV-infected patients. Patients were divided into four groups according to their LSGS score (0, 1-7, 8-14, 15-21). Significant correlations between the LSGS and the anthropometric and echographic measurements of fat thickness, mainly the limb circumferences (brachial: r= -0.43, p < 0.001; thigh: r= -0.41, p < 0.001), and, especially, the echographically assessed perirenal fat diameters either adjusted (r= 0.46, p < 0.001) or nonadjusted to the body mass index (r= 0.35, p < 0.001) were observed. Significant differences in most of these anthropometric parameters between either the lowest (score 0) and the highest (score 15-21) score groups and the remaining groups were found, but not between the two intermediate groups (scores 1-7 vs. 8-14). This suggests that lipodystrophy should be clinically categorized as absent, mild, or marked, and that even minor changes in physical aspect should be considered as indicative of this disorder. The combination of these subjective and objective parameters could be helpful in the early detection of lipodystrophy in clinical practice.

Perirenal fat diameter measured by echography could be an early predictor of lipodystrophy in HIV type 1-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Echographically measured thicknesses of perirenal and subcutaneous fat, as well as serum metabolic and anthropometric parameters, were evaluated in 74 human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), 22 of whom were HAART-naive at baseline, who were followed-up for 27 months to detect predictive factors of lipodystrophy. Perirenal fat diameter (PRFD) at baseline differed in HAART-naive and HAART-experienced patients (P<.001), and it was the best predictor of lipodystrophy changes after 12 months of follow-up in the HAART-naive patients (hazard ratio, 7.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-45.49; P=.032). In addition, HAART-experienced patients in whom lipodystrophy improved had thinner baseline perirenal fat than those in whom lipodystrophy did not improve (P=.04). A PRFD of >2.6 mm at baseline or >4.9 mm during receipt of HAART suggested lipodystrophy predisposition. PRFD correlated significantly with other metabolic and anthropometric parameters. Echographically measured PRFD is associated with lipodystrophy and could be used as an early predictor of this syndrome in treatment-naive patients starting HAART.