ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1588452
This article is part of the Research TopicBioimpedance Analysis: Lifelong Health, Disease, and Sport ApplicationsView all 15 articles
Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis and phase angle to verify early hydration status and prognosis in hospitalized children with nephrotic syndrome: an exploratory case series
Provisionally accepted
Esther Artuanne Figueredo Da Silva1
Mayara Gabrielly Germano de Araújo1Ana Márcia Soares Fernandes Xavier1Ana Karina da Costa Dantas1
Eduardo Paixão da Silva2
Marcia Marilia Gomes Dantas Lopes1*- 1Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
- 2Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
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Background: Children with nephrotic syndrome (NS) represent a high-risk group for significant clinical and nutritional alterations. The scarcity of studies on rapid and practical methods for assessing hydration status and nutritional prognosis in this context highlights the need for this study. Aim: To investigate the body composition profile through bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) and to evaluate the phase angle (PhA) between groups of hospitalized children with nephrotic syndrome (NS). Methods: In this study, we present nine cases of hospitalized children diagnosed with NS. The cases were divided into two groups: symptomatic NS (G1) and asymptomatic NS (G2). Upon hospital admission, socioeconomic, clinical, and biochemical data were collected, along with nutritional screening, anthropometric assessment (height-for-age), and body composition analysis using BIVA and PhA calculation. Results: Most children were male (67%) with a median age of 42 months. Most of the cases received social benefits, and their mothers had completed high school. All patients presented some degree of risk of malnutrition, regardless of symptomatology. BIVA identified anasarca and low body cell mass in the G1 group, whereas the G2 group showed a tendency toward leanness and cachexia. The PhA was significantly lower in group G1 (median = 2.49°, IQR = 1.04) compared to G2 (median = 3.68°, IQR = 0.60) (p = 0.036). Conclusion: BIVA rapidly and early detected extracellular water accumulation and reduced body cell mass, highlighting that those individuals with symptomatic NS had a lower PhA, suggesting a less favorable prognosis.
Keywords: Nephrotic syndrome1, pediatrics2, Electric Impedance3, body composition4, Prognostic factor5
Received: 05 Mar 2025; Accepted: 29 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Da Silva, de Araújo, Xavier, Dantas, da Silva and Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marcia Marilia Gomes Dantas Lopes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
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