Abstract

Twelve male cadavers (aged 50-94yr) were subjected to comprehensive anthropometry, dissectio, and weighing of all skeletal muscle. Correlation coefficients of limb girths with total skeletal muscle mass (MM) were high: forearm r = 0.96, mid-thigh r = 0.94, calf r = 0.84, and midarm r = 0.82. These increased when limb girths were corrected (by subtracting pi times the skinfold thickness) to estimate muscle girth. For the six unembalmed cadavers, this yielded a three-girth equation for MM (square r = 0.93; SEE = 1.56 kg), which was then validated using data from the embalmed cadavers. It predicted MM with an SEE of 1.58 kg and square r = 0.93. Because the values of these SEEs were similar, we pooled the subjects from the two groups to generate the final estimation equation. Despite the limitations of the cadaver sample, the proposed equation appears to provide the best estimate of skeletal muscle mass to date, in that it is the only cadaver-validated equation and it gives values that are consistent with all known dissection data. Verf.-Referat