title: Validity of estimating muscle and fat volume from a single MRI section in older adults with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if there is a correlation between the cross-sectional areas (CSAs) in a single section and the volumes of muscles and fat in the thigh of sarcopenic and sarcopenic obesity (SO) populations using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to assess the correlation between thigh MRI data and patient health status, i.e., normal, obese, sarcopenia, and SO.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ninety community-dwelling older adults were recruited and categorised into four subgroups based on Asian established criteria: normal, obese, sarcopenia, and SO. MRI images were acquired and muscles, subcutaneous fat (SF), and intermuscular fat (IMF) were automatically segmented in the thighs. Volumes of muscles and fat were calculated for the middle third of the thigh, while CSAs were assessed using a single section at 50% femur length.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlation between CSA and volume were significantly high (p<0.001) for all components of muscle (0.907), SF (0.963), and IMF (0.939). Thigh CSA and volume both correlated significantly with a clinical diagnosis of normal, obesity, sarcopenia, and SO (p<0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single CSA at 50% of femur length yields good estimation of muscle and fat volume in the thighs of older adults and correlates closely with the clinical criteria for sarcopenia and SO. This has the potential to greatly reduce costs, scan time, and post-processing time in clinical practice for the prediction of these conditions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. Electronic address: yuxin_yang@ttsh.com.sg.
authors.forename: Y X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tay
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yew
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013848:Thigh / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging