Sarcopenia is associated with risks of various adverse outcomes, and the assessment of skeletal muscle mass is necessary for its diagnosis. However, heart failure (HF) is a syndrome characterized by fluid retention, which affects muscle mass measurements. Different measurement methods have been reported to have different prognostic implications.
We investigated the association between skeletal muscle mass metrics measured using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and anthropometric measures and prognosis in patients with HF.
The findings of 869 consecutive patients with HF were reviewed. We investigated the skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) measured using the BIA, the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), the arm muscle circumference (AMC), and the calf circumference (CC), and the patients were divided into three groups according to the sex-specific tertiles of the skeletal muscle mass metrics. The endpoints were all-cause death or readmission due to HF.
The high MUAC and AMC groups showed significantly better prognoses than their respective low groups (combined events: high MUAC group, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.590, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.419-0.830, p < 0.01; high AMC group, HR = 0.529, 95% CI = 0.377-0.742 p < 0.01), while high SMI and high CC groups were not associated with better prognoses.
Among patients with HF, MUAC and AMC are more associated with prognoses than SMI and CC, which are recommended in preexisting sarcopenia guidelines and may also be useful measures in sarcopenia assessments.
Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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