title: Bioelectrical impedance analysis of head and neck cancer patients at presentation.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  Finnish head and neck cancer (HNC) patients show signs of severe malnutrition already at presentation, measured by bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA). BIA may be a practical method to detect malnutrition, analyze body composition, and to identify high-risk patients in this population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  BIA is a validated method for evaluating body composition and detecting malnutrition. Low phase angle (PA) is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Vector analysis (BIVA) provides a qualitative measure for hydration and cell mass, independent of body size. This study describes BIA results in Finnish HNC patients at presentation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one newly-diagnosed HNC patients at the Helsinki University Hospital were included. BIA measures (resistance, reactance, PA, fat-free mass index [FFMI], and fat mass index [FMI]), body mass index (BMI), and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of patients were men (78%), with a normal average BMI of 25.2. Low FFMI was seen in 44% of women and 28% of men. The PA (median = 4.6; IQ range = 4-5) was lower than the reference values in 76% (n = 31) of cases. In BIVA, only 13 (32%) of the patients were within normal range and 15 (37%) were plotted in the quadrant indicating malnutrition.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lundberg
authors.affiliation: b Clinical Nutrition Unit , Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nikander
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tuomainen
authors.affiliation: b Clinical Nutrition Unit , Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Orell-Kotikangas
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.|c Division of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology , Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital , Stockholm , Sweden.
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mäkitie
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Nutrition; cachexia; chemoradiotherapy; fat-free mass; morbidity; mortality; phase angle; surgery