ArticleTransplantation direct2020
Feasibility of Serial Ultrasound Measurements of the Rectus Femoris Muscle Area to Assess Muscle Loss in Patients Awaiting Liver Transplantation in the Intensive Care Unit.
Article in Transplantation direct, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultrasound-Based Skeletal Muscle Assessment for Prognostication in Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2026Pooled it
- The current use of ultrasound to measure skeletal muscle and its ability to predict clinical outcomes: a systematic review.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2022Pooled it
- Methodologies and clinical applications of lower limb muscle ultrasound in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- Ultrasound Assessment of Sarcopenia in Alcoholic Liver Disease.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Clinical practice guidelines for nutritional assessment and monitoring of adult ICU patients in China.Journal of intensive medicine · 2024Article
- Muscular abnormalities in liver cirrhosis.World journal of gastroenterology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
End-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) care before liver transplantation (LT) often experience significant muscle mass loss, which has been associated with mortality. In this exploratory study, we primarily aimed to assess the feasibility of serial ultrasound (US) rectus femoris muscle area (RFMA) measurements for the evaluation of progressive muscle loss in ICU-bound potential LT candidates and describe the rate of muscle loss as assessed by sequential US RFMA measurements. Secondarily, we sought to identify patient characteristics associated with muscle loss and determine how muscle loss is associated with survival.
methodsWe prospectively enrolled 50 ESLD adults (≥18 y old) undergoing evaluation for LT candidacy in the ICU. A baseline computed tomography measurement of psoas muscle area (PMA) and serial bedside US measurements of RFMA were obtained. The associations between patient characteristics, PMA, RFMA, ICU stay, and survival were analyzed.
resultsRapid decline in muscle mass by RFMA measurements was ubiquitously present and correlated to baseline PMA and length of ICU stay. RFMA normalized by body surface area decreased by 0.013 cm
conclusionsIn this exploratory, prospective study, serial US RFMA measurements in ESLD patients in the ICU are feasible, demonstrate progressive time-dependent muscle loss, and are associated with mortality. Further large-scale assessment of this modality compared with static PMA or performance-based dynamic assessments should be performed.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
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.