Sarcopenia in patients with liver cirrhosis according to hepatic functional reserve

Introduction and Objectives

Computed tomography (CT) is one of the most used and validated methods for the non-invasive diagnosis of sarcopenia; its measurement is not affected by the presence of obesity or ascites. The objective of the study was to know the frequency of sarcopenia in patients with liver cirrhosis with different degrees of liver reserve.

Materials and Patients

Patients who underwent liver function tests and an abdominal CT were included. The Child-Pugh index (CP) was obtained, and the skeletal muscle index (SMI) was calculated from the measurement of the cross-sectional area of the psoas muscle at the level of the third lumbar vertebra and normalized by the height of the patients (reference values for sarcopenia (Men <50cm2/m2; women <39cm2/m2).

Results

110 patients were included (75 women and 35 men) with an average age of 54±11 years, in CP A (n=21), CP B (n=53), and CP C (n=36); with a history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (n=36), hepatitis C virus infection (n=19), primary biliary cholangitis (n=15), excessive alcohol consumption (n=10), and other etiologies (n=30). The SMI was significantly higher in Child-Pugh A patients (48.15±9 cm2/m2) compared to Child-Pugh B (44.19±9 cm2/m2) and Child-Pugh C (41.20±7 cm2/m2) patients. The frequency of sarcopenia was 59% (CP A: 33.3%; CP B: 43.4%; CB C: 66.6%).

Conclusions

The results of the study confirm that sarcopenia is common in patients with liver cirrhosis and increases as liver reserve deteriorates.

Ethical Statement: Approval for the study was obtained from the local ethics committee (R 2022-3601-239).

Declaration of Interests: None.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.