Subjective clinical lipoatrophy assessment correlates with DEXA-measured limb fat.
OBJECTIVE
Although physician- and patient-rated diagnoses of lipoatrophy are currently used as a basis for inclusion into clinical trials, few studies have compared physician- or patient-rated lipoatrophy severity with objective measures. We aim to assess the validity of physician- and patient-rated diagnoses of lipoatrophy by evaluating the correlation between clinical assessments of lipoatrophy and objective fat indices.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study evaluated the association between clinical lipoatrophy scores and DEXA-measured limb fat (n = 154) and subcutaneous fat mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) levels (n = 80) in HIV+ individuals.


RESULTS
There was a significant negative correlation between DEXA-measured limb fat and lipoatrophy scores generated by either the patients (r = -0.27, p = .008) or the physician (r = -0.48, p < .0001). Also, a significant positive correlation was found between the patient-generated lipoatrophy score and the physician score (r = 0.68, p < .0001). However, there was no correlation between fat mtDNA levels and DEXA-measured limb fat (r = -0.09, p = .42) or between physician- or patient-generated lipoatrophy scores (r = -0.09, p = .43, and r = 0.04, p = .71, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that physician- and patient-rated lipoatrophy scores may be useful surrogates for more expensive measures of lipoatrophy, which could be reserved for research studies.
Tungsiripat
Marisa
M
Department of Infectious Diseases, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
O'Riordan
Mary Ann
MA
Storer
Norma
N
Harrill
Danielle
D
Ganz
Jason
J
Libutti
Daniel
D
Gerschenson
Mariana
M
McComsey
Grace A
GA
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis; D005121:Extremities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D039682:HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000166:cytology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial