Nutritional abnormalities in nonhospitalized patients with primitive cardiomyopathy

The present investigation was aimed at studying the influence of primitive myocardial disease on the nutritional status of nonhospitalized patients. In a group of 93 consecutive cases, without additional organic disabilities of known nutritional deficits, a simplified protocol of anthropometric and biochemical measurements was applied, including weight/height, triceps skinfold, arm muscle circumference, albumin, cholesterol, hemoglobin, and creatinine excretion. All these findings were analyzed in the light of the left ventricular functional status, as assessed by phonomechanographic parameters. The conclusions were: (1) primitive cardiomyopathy with significant ventricular impairment is associated with some signs of malnutrition; (2) triceps skinfold is the most affected index in those cases.