Nutritional status and lung function in patients with emphysema and chronic bronchitis

Abstract

This study compared the nutritional status of patients with emphysema and chronic bronchitis and examined the relationship between lung dysfunction and nutritional depletion in patients with emphysema. There was no evidence of nutritional depletion in patients with chronic bronchitis (n = 4). In contrast, patients with emphysema (n = 14) were somatically depleted. They exhibited lower values for percent ideal body weight (%IBW), arm muscle circumference (AMC), and triceps skin fold thickness (TSF) (p less than 0.05) than did patients with chronic bronchitis. The creatinine height index (CHI) was also lower in this group, but the difference was not significant (p = 0.08). In patients with emphysema, there was a good correlation between the degree of airflow obstruction and of somatic depletion (FEV1 vs %IBW, r = 0.699, p less than 0.001). The single-breath diffusing capacity (DCO) also correlated well with %IBW (r = 0.6052, p less than 0.019). These results confirm that patients with emphysema are frequently nutritionally depleted and suggest that nutritional depletion contributes to lung dysfunction in emphysema.