Total body protein and sarcopenia in patients with liver cirrhosis

Relationship between total body protein and cross-sectional skeletal muscle area in liver cirrhosis

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12618000024246

Enrollment

107

Registered

2018-01-12

Start date

2016-03-07

Completion date

2017-03-06

Last updated

2018-01-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Protein calorie malnutrition is common in patients with chronic liver disease/cirrhosis. Sarcopenia (reduced muscle mass) has been shown to be an independent predictor of mortality and morbidity in a wide range of conditions, including on the liver transplant waiting list, and also following transplantation. The cross-sectional area skeletal muscle on CT or MRI is a simple and widely available measurement that has previously been used as a measure of sarcopenia. However, it has not been validated against the gold standard method of TBP measured using in vivo neutron activation analysis (IVNAA). This study will compare two different ways of measuring body protein stores; cross sectional skeletal muscle area on CT or MRI will be compared to the gold standard method of in-vivo neutron activation analysis (IVNAA). Patients undergoing major abdominal surgery and chronic liver disease patients, who have previously been participants in studies conducted by the Body Composition Unit will be assessed for inclusion in the study. Individuals who have had both cross sectional imaging with CT or MRI and IVNAA within one month of each other will be identified retrospectively from laboratory and radiology records. No new measurement or prospective recruitment will be undertaken. We aim to validate the use of cross sectional skeletal muscle area as a measure of TBP in patients with chronic liver diease. This is relevant to future clinical and research studies that rely in this cross sectional imaging to measure sarcopenia in these patient populations.

Interventions

All participants retrospectively identified will have undergone in vitro neutron activation analysis (IVNAA) and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of total body protein as part of previous body composition research studies. Clinical medical records will be evaluated to identify individuals who have undergone routine clinical abdominal computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans within 30 days of IVNAA measurement.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Patients with a clinical diagnosis of chronic liver disease/cirrhosis who have previously been participants in body composition studies conducted by the Body Composition Unit at Auckland University. 2. Undergone total body protein measurements by IVNAA as part of these prior research studies. 3. Undergone CT/MRI abdominal imaging for routine clinical reasons within 30 days of IVNAA.

Exclusion criteria

1. Patients with acute hospital admissions, surgical procedures (including abdominal paracentesis), or other significant clinical events (major bleeding, encephalopathy, or sepsis) during the interval between IVNAA and abdominal imaging 2. Patients with cross-sectional imaging not including the third lumbar vertebral body. 3. Data obtained following liver transplantation.

Outcome results