Body Composition Measurements in Chronic Heart Failure

Feeding optimization and nutritional assessment in patients with severe heart failure are challenging. The prevalence of cardiac cachexia may be underestimated by simple measurements of body weight and body mass index because many patients show relative reductions in muscle mass despite being of normal overall weight. Body composition measurement can be essential in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients to estimate sarcopenia. Chronic heart failure patients with cardiac cachexia have a mortality two to three times higher than noncachectic patients. Bedside body composition measurements can reveal developing cardiac cachexia hence can be useful in prevention.