Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29300439›Full record

ArticleThe journal of nutrition, health & aging2017

Quantifying Sarcopenia Reference Values Using Lumbar and Thoracic Muscle Areas in a Healthy Population.

B A Derstine, S A Holcombe, R L Goulson, B E Ross, N C Wang, J A Sullivan, G L Su, S C Wang

Abstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
103citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

103 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  6. Approaches to Assessment of Muscle Mass and Myosteatosis on Computed Tomography: A Systematic Review.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2019
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  14. HyperSightRadiation oncology (London, England) · 2026
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  15. Radiographic and systemic predictors of persistent low back pain following total hip arthroplasty: roles of relative pelvic version and osteosarcopenia.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
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43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

B A DerstineS.C. Wang, Morphomics Analysis Group, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, stewartw@med.umich.edu.
S A Holcombe
R L Goulson
B E Ross
N C Wang
J A Sullivan
G L Su
S C Wang

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSarcopenia is defined as the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function associated with aging. Muscle mass can be reliably and accurately quantified using clinical CT scans but reference measurements are lacking, particularly in healthy US populations.

methodsTwo-phase CT scans from healthy kidney donors (age 18-40) at the University of Michigan between 1999-2010 were utilized. Muscle mass was quantified using two thoracic and two lumbar muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) measures. Indexed measurements were computed as area divided by height-squared. Paired analyses of non-contrast and contrast phases and different Hounsfield Unit (HU) ranges for muscle were conducted to determine their effect on CSA muscle measures. We report the means, standard deviations, and 2SD sarcopenia cutoffs from this population.

resultsHealthy population CSA (cm2) cutoffs for N=604 males/females respectively were: 34.7/20.9 (T12 Dorsal Muscle), 91.5/55.9 (T12 Skeletal Muscle), 141.7/91.2 (L3 Skeletal Muscle), 23.5/14.3 (L4 Total Psoas Area), and 23.4/14.3 (L4 Psoas Muscle Area). Height-indexed CSA (cm2/m2) cutoffs for males/females respectively were: 10.9/7.8 (T12 Dorsal Muscle), 28.7/20.6 (T12 Skeletal Muscle), 44.6/34.0 (L3 Skeletal Muscle), 7.5/5.2 (L4 Total Psoas Area), and 7.4/5.2 (L4 Psoas Muscle Area). We confirmed that a mask of -29 to 150 HU is optimal and shows no significant difference between contrast-enhanced and non-contrast CT scan CSA measurements.

conclusionsWe quantified reference values for lumbar and thoracic muscle CSA measures in a healthy US population. We defined the effect of IV contrast and different HU ranges for muscle. Combined, these results facilitate the extraction of clinically valuable data from the large numbers of existing scans performed for medical indications.

Indexed as

Psoas MusclesSarcopeniaAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle, SkeletalReference ValuesRetrospective StudiesTomography, X-Ray Computedcomputed tomographymorphomicsmuscleSarcopeniasarcopenia cutpointsarcopenic cutoff

Identifiers

PMID29300439
PMCPMC12880485

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.