[Body composition in chronic renal insufficiency in the primary anuric phase and after dialysis]

Bioelectric impedance was analysed before and after dialysis to assess the body composition of 36 patients suffering from chronic kidney failure in fair nutritional condition: resistance values were used to quantify total body water and reactance values as dimensional indices of the intracellular spaces and cell mass. Before dialysis, total body water was significantly higher than that of healthy subjects comparable for height, sex, age and weight, while it was not possible to obtain direct data on the dimensions of the cell mass. After dialysis, total body water values normalised and the dimensions of the intracellular spaces and cell mass became almost comparable to those of the controls: data analysis shows that during treatment, weight loss occurs almost exclusively in the extracellular compartments of the organism. Notwithstanding the fact that the absolute values are similar to those of the controls, body composition did not normalise as relationships between the dimensions of the various sectors remain altered.