Abstract
Background and aims Obesity is frequently associated with cirrhosis, and cirrhotic patients may develop simultaneous loss of skeletal muscle and gain of adipose tissue, culminating in the condition of sarcopenic obesity. Additionally, muscle depletion is characterized by both a reduction in muscle size and increased proportion of muscular fat, termed myosteatosis. In this study, we aimed to establish the frequency and clinical significance of sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and myosteatosis in cirrhotic patients.
Methods We analysed 678 patients with cirrhosis. Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and myosteatosis were analysed by CT scan using the third lumbar vertebrae skeletal muscle and attenuation indexes, using previously validated gender-and body mass index-specific cutoffs.
Results Patients were predominately men (n = 457, 67%), and cirrhosis aetiology was hepatitis C virus in 269 patients (40%), alcohol in 153 (23%), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis/cryptogenic in 96 (14%), autoimmune liver disease in 55 (8%), hepatitis B virus in 43 (6%), and others in 5 patients (1%). Sarcopenia was present in 292 (43%), 135 had sarcopenic obesity (20%) and 353 had myosteatosis (52%). Patients with sarcopenia (22 ± 3 vs. 95 ± 22 months, P = 0.04) were associated with mortality.
Conclusions Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and myosteatosis are often present in patients with cirrhosis, and sarcopenia and myosteatosis are independently associated with a higher long-term mortality in cirrhosis.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2016
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12039
Funding Information
This study has been funded by a Clinical Research Award from the American College of Gastroenterology Institute 2011.
Repository Citation
Montano-Loza, Aldo J.; Angulo, Paul; Meza-Junco, Judith; Prado, Carla M. M.; Sawyer, Michael B.; Beaumont, Crystal; Esfandiari, Nina; Ma, Ming; and Baracos, Vickie E., "Sarcopenic Obesity and Myosteatosis Are Associated with Higher Mortality in Patients with Cirrhosis" (2016). Internal Medicine Faculty Publications. 81.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/internalmedicine_facpub/81
Notes/Citation Information
Published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, v. 7, no. 2, p. 126-135.
© 2015 The Authors. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the Society of Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders
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