Association of Thoracic Skeletal Muscle Index with Clinical Outcome and Response to Nutritional Interventions in Patients at Risk of Malnutrition-Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Trial.

Background: Measurement of skeletal muscle index (SMI) in computed tomography has been suggested to improve the objective assessment of muscle mass. While most studies have focused on lumbar vertebrae, we examine the association of SMI at the thoracic level with nutritional and clinical outcomes and response to nutritional intervention.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of EFFORT, a Swiss-wide, multicenter, randomized trial.

Association of CT-based diagnosis of sarcopenia with prognosis and treatment response in patients at risk of malnutrition - A secondary analysis of the Effect of early nutritional support on Frailty, Functional Outcomes, and Recovery of malnourished medical inpatients Trial (EFFORT) trial.

Background & Aim: CT-derived measures of muscle mass may help to identify patients with sarcopenia. We investigated the prognostic significance of CT-derived sarcopenia and muscle attenuation with nutritional markers, clinical outcomes and response to nutritional support in medical in-patients at nutritional risk.

Method: Within this secondary analysis of the randomized-controlled Effect of early nutritional support on Frailty, Functional Outcomes, and Recovery of malnourished medical inpatients Trial (EFFORT) comparing individualized nutritional support with usual care nutrition in medical inpatients, we investigated associations of CT-based sarcopenia and muscle attenuation at the level L3 with different nutritional and clinical outcomes, and the response to the nutritional intervention.