Analysis of the optimal psoas muscle mass index cut-off values, as measured by computed tomography, for the diagnosis of loss of skeletal muscle mass in Japanese people

Masatsugu Ohara; Goki Suda; Megumi Kimura; Osamu Maehara; Tomoe Shimazaki; Taku Shigesawa; Kazuharu Suzuki; Akihisa Nakamura; Naoki Kawagishi; Masato Nakai; Takuya Sho; Mitsuteru Natsuizaka; Kenichi Morikawa; Koji Ogawa; Tomoe Kobayashi; Minoru Uebayashi; Ryo Takagi; Isao Yokota; Tsuyoshi Shimamura; Naoya Sakamoto

doi:10.1111/hepr.13499

Analysis of the optimal psoas muscle mass index cut-off values, as measured by computed tomography, for the diagnosis of loss of skeletal muscle mass in Japanese people

Hepatol Res. 2020 Jun;50(6):715-725. doi: 10.1111/hepr.13499. Epub 2020 Apr 7.

Authors

Masatsugu Ohara¹, Goki Suda¹, Megumi Kimura¹, Osamu Maehara², Tomoe Shimazaki¹, Taku Shigesawa¹, Kazuharu Suzuki¹, Akihisa Nakamura¹, Naoki Kawagishi¹, Masato Nakai¹, Takuya Sho¹, Mitsuteru Natsuizaka¹, Kenichi Morikawa¹, Koji Ogawa¹, Tomoe Kobayashi³, Minoru Uebayashi⁴, Ryo Takagi⁵, Isao Yokota⁵, Tsuyoshi Shimamura⁶, Naoya Sakamoto¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
² Department of Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
³ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tomakomai City Hospital, Hokkaido, Japan.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital, Hokkaido, Japan.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁶ Division of Organ Transplantation, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.

PMID: 32202371
DOI: 10.1111/hepr.13499

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the optimal psoas muscle mass index (PMI) cut-off values for diagnosis of skeletal muscle mass loss.

Methods: We evaluated PMI in two groups of normal controls: a medical check-up group and a liver donation candidate group. We analyzed two novel PMI cut-off values, one based on the mean - two standard deviations (2SD) and one based on the lower 5%. Skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) evaluations using computed tomography (sliceOmatic; TomoVision) and bioelectrical impedance analysis and PMI evaluation were undertaken simultaneously. We analyzed the correlation between our PMI cut-off values and the Japan Society of Hepatology-defined SMI cut-off values. The prevalence of skeletal muscle mass loss in patients with liver disease was assessed using the novel PMI cut-off values.

Results: In 504 normal controls aged ≤50 years, the PMI cut-off values based on mean -2SD and the lower 5% were set at 3.30 cm² /m² for men and 1.69 cm² /m² for women and 3.74 cm² /m² for men and 2.29 cm² /m² for women, respectively. The PMI cut-off values based on the lower 5% alone showed that skeletal muscle mass loss increased with age. Furthermore, they correlated well with Japan Society of Hepatology-defined SMI (sliceOmatic) cut-off values and showed a significantly higher prevalence of skeletal muscle mass loss in patients with liver cirrhosis than those without liver cirrhosis.

Conclusions: We propose the following PMI cut-off values: 3.74 cm² /m² for male individuals and 2.29 cm² /m² for female individuals. These cut-off values can facilitate accurate diagnosis and management of sarcopenia in patients with chronic liver disease.

Keywords: liver disease; psoas muscle; sarcopenia; skeletal muscle.

Abstract

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