Background: Persistent symptoms including dyspnea and functional impairment are common in COVID-19 survivors. Poor muscle quality (myosteatosis) associates with poor short-term outcomes in COVID-19 patients. The aim of this observational study was to assess the relationship between myosteatosis diagnosed during acute COVID-19 and patient-reported outcomes at 6 months after discharge.

Methods: Myosteatosis was diagnosed based on CT-derived skeletal muscle radiation attenuation (SM-RA) measured during hospitalization in 97 COVID-19 survivors who had available anthropometric and clinical data upon admission and at the 6-month follow-up after discharge. Dyspnea in daily activities was assessed using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale for dyspnea. Health-related quality of life was measured using the European quality of life questionnaire three-level version (EQ-5D-3L).

Results: Characteristics of patients with (lowest sex- and age-specific tertile of SM-RA) or without myosteatosis during acute COVID-19 were similar. At 6 months, patients with myosteatosis had greater rates of obesity (48.4 vs. 27.7%, = 0.046), abdominal obesity (80.0 vs. 47.6%, = 0.003), dyspnea (32.3 vs. 12.5%, = 0.021) and mobility problems (32.3 vs. 12.5%, = 0.004). Myosteatosis diagnosed during acute COVID-19 was the only significant predictor of persistent dyspnea (OR 3.19 [95% C.I. 1.04; 9.87], = 0.043) and mobility problems (OR 3.70 [95% C.I. 1.25; 10.95], = 0.018) at 6 months at logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, and BMI.

Conclusion: Myosteatosis diagnosed during acute COVID-19 significantly predicts persistent dyspnea and mobility problems at 6 months after hospital discharge independent of age, sex, and body mass.

Clinical Trial Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT04318366].

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9024358PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.846901DOI Listing

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