Sarcopenia, a core component of physical frailty, is an independent risk factor for suboptimal health outcomes in hospitalized patients, especially in the intensive care patients. Psoas muscle areas can be assessed to identify sarcopenia.

The aim of a new study published in BioMed Research International was to determine the prognostic value of psoas muscle area measured with CT, for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism at admission to the intensive care unit (ICU).

This study reviewed clinical data of patients with pulmonary embolism having an abdominal CT scan at admission to the ICU. Using CT scan images at the level of L3 vertebra, the psoas muscle area value was obtained—by dividing the sum of the right and left psoas muscle areas into the body surface area.

The results revealed that the in-hospital mortality rate was 22.5% among 89 patients. The pulmonary embolism patients with in-hospital mortality, had higher Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) scores and lower value of psoas muscle area, as well as lower systolic blood pressure and arterial oxygen saturation at admission. Meanwhile, the increase in value of psoas muscle area was associated with a decrease in the rate of in-hospital mortality. Moreover, in patients with in-hospital mortality related to pulmonary embolism, the higher PESI and the lower value of psoas muscle area were considered in accordance with the outcome of patients.

It was inferred that for the prediction of in-hospital mortality risk in patients with pulmonary embolism managed in the ICU, the psoas muscle area value has a merit to be used along with the routine diagnostic procedures, after further studies conducted with different severity of pulmonary embolism.

Source: BioMed Research International. 2020 Mar 7;2020:1586707. doi: 10.1155/2020/1586707.