Body surface area

Body Surface Area

Body Surface Area (BSA) is a measurement used in many medical tasks. Various body surface area formulas have been developed over the years, originally by Drs. Du Bois & Du Bois, followed by Gehan and George, Haycock, Boyd and Mosteller. These formulas all give slightly different results. It is probably not worth the trouble to debate about which formula may or may not be slightly better.

Pronunciation

• Body: /ˈbɒdi/
• Surface: /ˈsɜːrfɪs/
• Area: /ˈɛəriə/

Etymology

The term "Body Surface Area" is derived from the English language. "Body" comes from the Old English bodig, "Surface" comes from the French surface, and "Area" comes from the Latin area.

Related Terms

• Body Mass Index (BMI)
• Skin
• Human body
• Medicine
• Pharmacology
• Chemotherapy
• Renal function

Formulas

The original formula to calculate BSA is:

BSA (m^2) = 0.007184 × Height(cm)^0.725 × Weight(kg)^0.425

Other formulas include the Mosteller, Haycock and Boyd formulas.

Usage in Medicine

In medicine, body surface area is used to calculate dosages of medications that have a m^2 measure. This is particularly relevant in chemotherapy, where the toxicity of the administered drugs often depends on the body surface area.

See Also

• Body Mass Index
• Human body
• Medicine
• Pharmacology
• Chemotherapy
• Renal function

External links

• Medical encyclopedia article on Body surface area
• Wikipedia's article - Body surface area

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