title: A simple sarcopenia screening test predicts future adverse events in patients with heart failure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Progressive loss of skeletal muscle termed "sarcopenia" is an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases. A simple screening test that can identify sarcopenia using three variables (age, grip strength and calf circumference) was recently developed. We evaluated the clinical utility of this screening test in patients with heart failure (HF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  HF patients were divided into the sarcopenia (n=82) and non-sarcopenia (n=37) groups based on the sarcopenia score. Circulating BNP and high-sensitive cardiac troponin T levels were significantly higher, and left ventricular ejection fraction was lower in the sarcopenia group than non-sarcopenia group. Kaplan-Meier curve showed that HF event-free survival rate was significantly lower in the sarcopenia group. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis identified BNP (ln[BNP]) (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.09-2.29, p=0.02), hs-CRP (ln[CRP]) (HR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.23-2.68; p<0.01) and sarcopenia score (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01-1.05, p<0.01) as independent predictors of HF events. In receiver operating characteristic analysis, adding the sarcopenia score to BNP levels increased an area under the curve for future HF events (sarcopenia score alone, 0.77; BNP alone, 0.82; combination, 0.89).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sarcopenia screening test can be used to predict future adverse events in patients with HF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Onoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: izumiya@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Izumiya
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanatani
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsujita
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamuro
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Sunao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaikita
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hokimoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016019:Survival Analysis; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D020107:Troponin T; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
keywords: Heart failure; Risk stratification; Sarcopenia