title: Sarcopenia as a useful predictor for long-term mortality in cirrhotic patients with ascites.
abstract: This study aimed to assess and compare sarcopenia with other prognostic factors for predicting long-term mortality in cirrhotic patients with ascites. Clinical data of 65 among 89 patients with measurement of all parameters were consecutively collected. Sarcopenia was evaluated as right psoas muscle thickness measurement divided by height (PMTH) (mm/m). During a mean follow-up of 20 (range: 1-49) months, 19 (29.2%) of 65 patients died. The values of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of Child-Pugh score, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, MELD-Na, and PMTH for predicting 1-yr mortality were 0.777 (95% CI, 0.635-0.883), 0.769 (95% CI, 0.627-0.877), 0.800 (95% CI, 0.661-0.900), and 0.833 (95% CI, 0.699-0.924), whereas hepatic venous pressure gradient was not significant (AUROC, 0.695; 95% CI. 0.547-0.818, P=0.053). The differences between PMTH and other prognostic variables were not significant (all P>0.05). The best cut-off value of PMTH to predict long-term mortality was 14 mm/m. The mortality rates at 1-yr and 2-yr with PMTH>14 mm/m vs. PMTH≤14 mm/m were 2.6% and 15.2% vs. 41.6% and 66.8%, respectively (P<0.001). The mortality in cirrhotic patients with PMTH≤14 mm/m was higher than those with PMTH>14 mm/m (HR, 5.398; 95% CI, 2.111-13.800, P<0.001). In conclusion, sarcopenia, evaluated by PMTH, is an independent useful predictor for long-term mortality in cirrhotic patients with ascites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Yeob
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7978-5303
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Yeong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6228-7313
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Joo Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8977-4509
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3536-6585
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Ah
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4474-180X
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Sanghyeok
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1607-3744
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Hanyang University, Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngsoo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1069-0135
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001201:Ascites; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Ascites; Liver Cirrhosis; Prognosis; Psoas Muscle Thickness; Sarcopenia