ReviewPakistan journal of medical sciences2026
Impact of Sarcopenia on outcomes of pulmonary embolism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Abstract
Background and Objective: Sarcopenia measured by, skeletal muscle mass, has emerged a marker of adverse outcomes in various acute illnesses. Its prognostic significance in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains incompletely defined. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between sarcopenia and clinical outcomes in acute PE. Methodology: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus was conducted from inception to December 27, 2025. Observational studies evaluating sarcopenia using computed tomography (CT)-based skeletal muscle parameters in adults with acute PE and reporting short-term mortality (mortality within 90 days) or in-hospital outcomes were included. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed when data were amenable to pooling. Results: Six observational studies comprising 578,886 patients met the inclusion criteria. A pooled analysis of four studies demonstrated that higher skeletal muscle mass or index was associated with a reduced risk of short-term mortality (odds ratio: 0.94; 95% confidence interval: 0.90-0.98), although substantial heterogeneity was observed (I² = 75%) and results were unstable on sensitivity analyses. Descriptive analysis of two studies showed worse in-hospital outcomes in patients with sarcopenia. Conclusions: The assessment of sarcopenia through CT-derived skeletal muscle measurements may be associated with an increased risk of short-term mortality among patients with acute PE. Quantitative analyses of data also showed a correlation between sarcopenia and adverse outcomes. Methodological heterogeneity and scarce data are important limitations of the review.
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