Myosteatosis and Frailty Factors associated with the occurrence of Complications in Cirrhotic patients: MYOFACC study

Abstract

Background and aim: Cirrhosis leads to sarcopenia and to life-threatening complications in decompensated stages. The objective of this study is to show the impact of the loss of muscle mass and function on hepatic decompensations. Methods: Our study compares a group of cirrhotic patients with controls matched with the same sex and age. A questionnaire was created to collect demographic, anthropometric, and cirrhosis characteristics. Several CT scan sections were analyzed and the average measurements have been grouped into tertiles to estimate the impact on cirrhotic complications. Results: Our study included 33 controls and 33 cirrhotic patients of which 59.4% had NASH. Anthropometric characteristics were similar in cirrhotics men and women. Grip strength was significantly lower in cirrhotic men. Using the skeletal muscle index we found 39.39% of cirrhotic patients were sarcopenic mostly men 84.61%. In Cirrhotic men, the density of the psoas and paravertebral muscles was lower than in controls. In women psoas and paravertebral muscle areas were comparable and the total muscle surface in cirrhotic patients was higher. There was a negative correlation between this surface and the density of the psoas (r = -0.293 p = 0.017) indicating the presence of myosteatosis in women. Analysing tertile groups showed a significantly higher incidence of complications related to liver disease and liver failure in patients with the psoas and paravertebral muscle density in the lowest tertile and in the frail population according to the frailty index. Conclusion: Cirrhotic patients have myosteatosis and sarcopenia associated with a higher incidence of complications related to hepatic failure.