The predictive value of temporal muscle thickness measured by ultrasonography for detecting moderate to severe malnutrition in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Introduction And Aim: To determine the predictive value of temporal muscle thickness (TMT) measured by ultrasonography in the diagnosing of moderate to severe malnutrition in chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients.

Materials And Methods: Adult patients (> 18 years) who had been on CHD for at least 3 months were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients with infection or inflammatory disease, malignancy, malabsorption syndrome, history of surgery within the last 3 months excluded. Demographic, anthropometric, laboratory parameters, and Malnutrition Inflammation Score (MIS) test results recorded.

Results: A total of 60 chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients (median age: 66 years, 46.7% female) and 30 healthy individuals (median age: 59.5 years, 55% female) were examined. While there were no significant difference between the dry weight (70 vs 71 kg) and body mass index (BMI) (25.8 vs 26 kg/m) of the CHD patients and healthy control group, we found that triceps skinfold thickness (TST) (16 vs 19 mm) and left and right TMT (9.6 vs 10.7 and 9.8 vs 10.9 mm) values were significantly lower in the CHD patients (p < 0.001). CHD patients were divided into two groups according to their MIS values as mild (MIS < 6) and moderate/severe malnutrition (MIS ≥ 6). Patients with moderate/severe malnutrition were older, predominantly female and with longer HD vintage. Left (8.8 vs 11 mm) and right TMT (9.1 vs 11.2 mm) values were lower in moderate/severe malnutrition group. In the correlation analysis, a negative correlation was found between TMT and age and MIS, and a positive correlation determined with dry weight, BMI, TST and serum uric acid. In the ROC curve analysis, we found that the optimal cut-off value of left and right TMT for predicting moderate/severe malnutrition were 10.05 and 10.45 mm, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis showed that HD vintage, URR, and TMT values were independently associated with moderate/severe malnutrition.

Conclusion: TMT value measured by ultrasonography in CHD patients can be used as a reliable, easily accessible and non-invasive diagnostic method for predicting moderate/severe malnutrition.