Measurement of body surface area in children with liver disease by a novel three-dimensional body scanning device

Body surface area (BSA) is used in paediatrics to assess fluid requirement, drug doses, cardiac output and glomerular filtration rate. The aim of this study was to examine, in children with liver disease, the relationship between BSA determined by a traditional nomogram and BSA measured by a novel three-dimensional technique — Loughborough Anthropometric Shadow Scanner (LASS). Subjects were 16 children, mean age 8.1 (range 3.6–14.9) years, with a variety of liver diseases. Twenty-eight controls had a mean age of 7.1 (3.1–10.5) years. All had LASS scans performed as well as 21 anthropometric measurements taken by a single observer. There was a significant relationship between BSA (LASS) and BSA nomogram for liver-diseased children (r=0.99) and controls (r=0.96). The BSA nomogram values were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than BSA (LASS) for liver-diseased subjects by 10.1% (–0.35 to + 20.6; 95% confidence interval), and for controls by 9.6% (4.1–23.2). Best prediction of BSA (LASS) for liver-disease subjects used height, body weight and gluteal furrow circumference [r²=0.997; standard estimated error (SEE) = 0.015 m²] and for controls used body weight alone (r²=0.907; SEE=0.048 m²). BSA nomogram has no additional error in children with liver disease, but may overestimate BSA by 10% compared with a novel three-dimensional body surface scanning technique.