Comparative assessment of abdominal and thigh muscle characteristics using CT-derived images

• Autor(a) principal: Fayh, Ana Paula Trussardi
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Medeiros, Galtieri Otávio Cunha de, Sousa, Iasmin Matias de, Chaves, Gabriela Villaça, Gonzalez, Maria Cristina, Prado, Carla M.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRN
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/55829; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2022.111654
• topic: Low muscle mass; sarcopenia; body composition; muscle quality; muscle radiodensity; muscle attenuation

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the assessment of skeletal muscle area (SMA in cm2 ), skeletal muscle index (SMI in cm2 /m2 ), and skeletal muscle density (SMD in HU) between third lumbar vertebra (L3) and thigh landmarks, and the agreement in diagnosing low muscle mass and low SMD (L3 as the reference method). Methods: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study including healthy individuals (18 y of age) of both sexes, who had an elective computed tomography exam including abdominal and pelvic regions. Computed tomography images were analyzed to evaluate SMA, SMI, and SMD. Muscle abnormalities (low SMA, SMI, and SMD) were defined as values below the fifth percentile from a subsample of healthy young individuals (n = 111; 1839 y of age; 55.9% women). Correlation coefficients, BlandAltman graphs, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated for the total sample and stratified by sex and age. Results: In all, 268 individuals (44.3 § 15.2 y of age) were evaluated (53% women). Significant (P < 0.001 for all analysis) and strong correlations between SMA (r = 0.896), SMI (r= 0.853), and SMD (r= 0.864) compared with L3 and thigh landmarks were observed. For the ROC curves, similar areas under the curve values were obtained for men (0.981), women (0.895), younger (0.902), and older adults (0.894). Conclusions: Muscle characteristics between L3and thigh landmarks have a strong correlation. This suggests that images of the thigh can be used to characterize muscle characteristics. Image acquisition and analysis of thigh region is simpler, with less radiation exposure, and consequently more appropriate for longitudinal analysis