ArticleLiver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver2020
MRI-defined sarcopenia predicts mortality in patients with chronic liver disease.
Article in Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Imaging-based assessment of sarcopenia in liver transplant candidates: A systematic review.World journal of gastroenterology · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of sarcopenia and frailty on decompensation in compensated cirrhosis: A systematic review.Hepatology communications · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Sarcopenia Is Associated With Mortality and Progression of Cirrhosis in Decompensated but Not Compensated Disease-A Multicentre Study.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Integrative analysis of plasma small-molecule and gut-microbiome markers of sarcopenia in a pilot study within an Indian cohort.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia-A Valuable Imaging Biomarker for Disease Progression in Patients With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)?Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2025Article
- Assessing body composition using auto-segmentations of muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue in prostate cancer patients receiving magnetic resonance-guided radiotherapy.Physics and imaging in radiation oncology · 2025Article
- Review
- Quantitative Assessment of Body Composition in Cirrhosis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Sarcopenia and Pleural Effusions: Exploring a Potential Link.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Quick and easy assessment of sarcopenia in cirrhosis: Can ultrasound be the solution?World journal of gastroenterology · 2024Article
- Advanced liver fibrosis is associated with decreased gait speed in older patients with chronic liver disease.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Sarcopenia and Pleural Mesothelioma: The Current Knowledge.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Development and validation of a predictive model assessing the risk of sarcopenia in rheumatoid arthritis patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Osteosarcopenia in NAFLD/MAFLD: An Underappreciated Clinical Problem in Chronic Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Impact of sarcopenia on tumor response and survival outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated by trans-arterial (chemo)-embolization.World journal of gastroenterology · 2022Article
- Muscular abnormalities in liver cirrhosis.World journal of gastroenterology · 2021Review
- Use of skeletal muscle index as a predictor of short-term mortality in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Review
- Radiologic Definition of Sarcopenia in Chronic Liver Disease.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND &
aimsTo explore whether sarcopenia, diagnosed by an abbreviated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol is a risk factor for hepatic decompensation and mortality in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD).
methodsIn this retrospective single-centre study we included 265 patients (164 men, mean age 54 ± 16 years) with CLD who had undergone MRI of the liver between 2010 and 2015. Transverse psoas muscle thickness (TPMT) was measured on unenhanced and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and T2-weighted axial images. Sarcopenia was defined by height-adjusted and gender-specific cut-offs in women as TPMT < 8 mm/m and in men as TPMT < 12 mm/m respectively. Patients were further stratified into three prognostic stages according to the absence of advanced fibrosis (FIB-4 < 1.45, non-advanced CLD), compensated-advanced CLD (cACLD) and decompensated-advanced CLD (dACLD).
resultsThe inter-observer agreement for the TPMT measurements (κ = 0.98; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]:0.96-0.98), as well as the intra-observer agreement between the three image sequences (κ = 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99-1.00) were excellent. Sarcopenia was not predictive of first or further hepatic decompensation. In patients with cACLD and dACLD, sarcopenia was a risk factor for mortality (cACLD: hazard ratio (HR):3.13, 95% CI: 1.33-7.41, P = .009; dACLD:HR:2.45, 95% CI: 1.32-4.57, P = .005) on univariate analysis. After adjusting for the model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, albumin and evidence of clinical significant portal hypertension, sarcopenia (adjusted HR: 2.76, 95% CI: 1.02-7.42, P = .045) remained an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with cACLD.
conclusionSarcopenia can be easily evaluated by a short MRI exam without the need for contrast injection. Sarcopenia is a risk factor for mortality, especially in patients with cACLD.
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