ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2026
Sex-specific patterns of skeletal muscle aging at the L3 level: a quantitative study based on opportunistic CT.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis opportunistic CT-based study aimed to investigate age- and sex-related changes in muscle mass and quality at the L3 vertebral level in men aged ≥ 50 years and postmenopausal women.
methodsClinical and abdominal CT data from 292 hospitalized patients (146 men, 146 women) were retrospectively analyzed. At the L3 level, skeletal muscle area (SMA), skeletal muscle index (SMI), skeletal muscle density (SMD), intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT), and intramuscular adipose tissue content (IMAC) were measured using Image J. Two-way ANOVA was used to test for sex-by-age interactions. Univariate linear regression and LOESS smoothing were additionally applied to quantify and visualize age-related trajectories, respectively.
resultsAll CT-derived measurements showed excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC > 0.75). Two-way ANOVA revealed significant sex-by-age interactions for SMA and SMI (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively), but not for SMD or IMAT. Men exhibited a more rapid age-related decline in muscle mass: each additional year of age was associated with a decrease in SMA of 1.331 cm
conclusionsOpportunistic CT-based assessment reveals a distinct sexual dimorphism in skeletal muscle aging: men lose muscle mass more rapidly, whereas women experience an earlier onset of muscle quality decline, driven predominantly by intermuscular fat infiltration. Opportunistic CT effectively captures these sex-specific differences, supporting its application in opportunistic screening and sex‑specific management of sarcopenia.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.