Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39799321›Full record

Observational studyBMC anesthesiology2025

Early urea-to-creatinine ratio to predict rapid muscle loss in critically ill patients with sepsis: a single-center retrospective observational study.

Jie Jiang, Hui Chen, Shan-Shan Meng, Chun Pan, Jian-Feng Xie, Feng-Mei Guo

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC anesthesiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  5. Review
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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

6 authors.

Jie JiangJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Hui ChenJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Shan-Shan MengJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Chun PanJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Jian-Feng XieJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Feng-Mei GuoJiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China. fmguo2024@163.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPatients with sepsis in the intensive care unit (ICU) often experience rapid muscle loss. The urea-to-creatinine ratio (UCR) is thought to reflect muscle breakdown (creatinine) and catabolism (urea) and is commonly used to assess nutritional and metabolic status. This study aimed to investigate whether changes in UCR (ΔUCR) can predict the development of rapid muscle loss in patients with sepsis.

methodsThis retrospective observational study was conducted in a university ICU between 2014 and 2021, involving adult patients (≥ 18 years) diagnosed with sepsis. The primary outcome was the incidence of rapid muscle loss during ICU hospitalization. Changes in the cross-sectional muscle area at the third lumbar vertebra (L3SMA) were measured using CT images to evaluate muscle loss. Rapid muscle loss was defined as a change in ΔL3SMA greater than 2% per day. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between UCR or ΔUCR and rapid muscle loss. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the predictive performance of UCR or ΔUCR for rapid muscle loss.

resultsOf the 482 patients, 141 (29.2%) experienced rapid muscle loss during their ICU stay. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that ΔUCR was significantly associated with an increased risk of rapid muscle loss, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.02 [95% CI: 1.01, 1.02]. The AUC for ΔUCR in predicting rapid muscle loss was 0.76 [95% CI: 0.68-0.83], with a threshold value of 19.4 µmol urea/µmol creatinine for ΔUCR.

conclusionThe results demonstrate that ΔUCR is independently associated with rapid muscle loss in patients with sepsis and the AUC of the ROC curve for the ability of ΔUCR to predict rapid muscle loss was 0.76. Though additional prospective data are needed, our results suggest that ΔUCR may be useful in the early identification of critically ill patients with sepsis at risk of rapid muscle loss.

Indexed as

CreatinineSepsisUreaAgedCritical IllnessFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsRetrospective StudiesCreatinineUreaICU acquired weaknessSepsisSkeletal muscle wastingUrea-to-creatinine ratio

Identifiers

PMID39799321
PMCPMC11724614

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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.