ArticleClinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)2022
Low muscle mass in COVID-19 critically-ill patients: Prognostic significance and surrogate markers for assessment.
Article in Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence and prognosis of sarcopenia in acute COVID-19 and long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the association between computed tomography (CT)-derived skeletal muscle mass and short- and long-term mortality in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Which vertebral level should be used to calculate sarcopenia in covid-19 patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence and clinical implications of abnormal body composition phenotypes in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Calf Circumference and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on Trend Estimation Approaches.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Practices, barriers, and opportunities for dietitians-nutrionists in critical care in Latin America: A cross-sectional study.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Personalized Nutrition Strategies for Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review on the Future of Critical Care Nutrition.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Erector Spinae Muscle to Epicardial Visceral Fat Ratio on Chest CT Predicts the Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- The relationship between low and asymmetric handgrip strength and low muscle mass: results of a cross-sectional study on health and aging trends in western China.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Association of Calf Circumference with Clinical and Biochemical Markers in Older Adults with COVID-19 Admitted at Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Total and segmental phase angle in a cohort of hospitalised patients with COVID-19: mortality prediction and changes throughout hospitalisation.The British journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- Review
- Prolonged intensive care: muscular functional, and nutritional insights from the COVID-19 pandemic.Acute and critical care · 2024Article
- Nutrition in the intensive care unit and early recovery influence functional outcomes for survivors of critical illness: A prospective cohort study.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2023Article
- The association between reduced calf and mid-arm circumferences and ICU mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2023Article
- Sarcopenia and COVID-19 Outcomes.Clinical interventions in aging · 2023Review
- Factors associated with mortality in hospitalised, non-severe, older COVID-19 patients - the role of sarcopenia and frailty assessment.BMC geriatrics · 2022Observational
- Letter to the editor: Low muscle mass in COVID-19 critically-ill patients: Prognostic significance and surrogate markers for assessment.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2022Article
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11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLow muscle mass is a common condition in the critically ill population and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the prognostic significance of low muscle mass using computed tomography (CT) scans in COVID-19 critically ill patients. A second objective was to determine the accuracy and agreement in low muscle mass identification using diverse markers compared to CT as the gold standard.
methodsThis was a prospective cohort study of COVID-19 critically ill patients. Skeletal muscle area at the third lumbar vertebra was measured. Clinical outcomes (intensive care unit [ICU] and hospital length of stay [LOS], tracheostomy, days on mechanical ventilation [MV], and in-hospital mortality) were assessed. Phase angle, estimated fat-free mass index, calf circumference, and mid-upper arm circumference were measured as surrogate markers of muscle mass.
resultsEighty-six patients were included (mean age ± SD: 48.6 ± 12.9; 74% males). Patients with low muscle mass (48%) had a higher rate of tracheostomy (50 vs 20%, p = 0.01), prolonged ICU (adjusted HR 0.53, 95%CI 0.30-0.92, p = 0.024) and hospital LOS (adjusted HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.29-0.86, p = 0.014). Bedside markers of muscle mass showed poor to fair agreement and accuracy compared to CT-assessed low muscle mass.
conclusionLow muscle mass at admission was associated with prolonged length of ICU and hospital stays. Further studies are needed to establish targeted nutritional interventions to halt and correct the catabolic impact of COVID-19 in critically ill patients, based on standardized and reliable measurements of body composition.
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