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Updated: Dec 29, 2025
Measurements of Motor Function and Other Clinical Outcome Parameters in Ambulant Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Published on: January 12, 2019
Evaluation of body composition as a potential biomarker in spinal muscular atrophy
Giovanni Baranello1,2, Ramona De Amicis3, Maria Teresa Arnoldi1
1Developmental Neurology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.
Introduction:
We aimed to investigate the correlation between body composition (BC) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)-specific motor function assessments.
Methods:
Patients with SMA types I or II, aged 1 to 10 years, were recruited in this cross-sectional study. The protocol included anthropometric measurements, and dual-energy X-ray absoprtiometry to assess fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), fat-free mass (FFM), FM and FFM indexes (FMI, FFMI), and motor function assessments (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders scale for SMAI, and Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale-Expanded for SMAII).
Results:
Eighty-eight children were included. All had a higher FM percentage than reference values. Motor function was moderately correlated with body mass index (BMI), FFMI, and LMI in SMAI, and weakly correlated with FFMI, LMI, and LM:FM ratio in SMAII.
Discussion:
BC shows promise as a potential biomarker for SMA, but further studies are needed.
