In a pilot study of seven adults with obesity, patients undergoing bariatric arterial embolization successfully lost body fat without losing lean muscle.
The findings of featured abstract “Bariatric Arterial Embolization Is Associated with Significant Muscle-sparing Weight Loss Detected by Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging Anthropometry” will be presented during Tuesday’s Scientific Session 17, Embolization 2, 3:36 p.m. in Room 221C of the Phoenix Convention Center.
“Bariatric embolization is a minimally invasive interventional procedure to promote weight loss by suppressing hunger for patients,” explained presenting author Daniel Giraldo Herrera, MD, postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. “We believe that this could be a powerful tool for patients who want yet another option to promote weight loss, as we know it’s a very difficult disease process to cure and one that requires multiple lifestyle changes over several years.”
The abstract reports on the pilot phase of the BEATLES trial (Bariatric Embolization of ArTeries with imaging visibLe EmbolicS), laying the groundwork for a larger randomized trial. Before and after the procedure—at 3 months and 6 months—patients underwent a full-body MRI scan so researchers could track the presence of fat throughout the entire body over time. Unlike previous studies, this study focused on otherwise healthy patients who have obesity.
“Using MRI to scan the entire body is a simple and fast technique that only takes about 10–15 minutes,” said co-author Clifford R. Weiss, MD, FSIR, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
“Unlike DEXA or other methods that we currently have, the MRI allows physicians to obtain a detailed multicompartment quantitative body fat assessment of a whole host of compartments, from the knee to the neck. It allows you to assess both muscle and fat percentages in these critical compartments,” Dr. Weiss explained. “This gives us a clear sense of how patients are losing weight.”
Patients undergoing bariatric arterial embolization lost three times as much weight from the fat compartments in their skin, belly, liver and muscles, as compared to weight loss from lean muscle. “In other words, a healthy pattern of weight loss that is mostly from fat and spares the lean muscle tissues,” Dr. Giraldo Herrera said.
Before the procedure, mean body weight was 278 ± 54 lbs. At 3 months, it was 250 ± 47 lbs., and at 6 months it was 244 ± 51 lbs.
“Examining a patient’s entire body and how it changes over time provides a body composition index that can show things such as liver fat percentage, muscle fat percentage, lean muscle mass, subcutaneous fat and intra-abdominal fat,” Dr. Weiss said. “When you look at how these graphs change, you can actually see how a patient’s risk profiles change over time, as well as risks of diabetes and heart attack. As a result, this tool is becoming more useful and more prevalent in obesity research.”