Banca de DEFESA: MARIA KAROLAINY DO NASCIMENTO

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MARIA KAROLAINY DO NASCIMENTO
DATE: 25/04/2025
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: REMOTA - https://meet.google.com/zii-wmgm-uqg
TITLE:

DIFFERENCES IN MUSCLE COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONALITY: EXPLORING CT ANATOMICAL POINTS AND SARC-F COMPONENTS.

KEY WORDS:

sarcopenia screening, anatomical landmarks, muscle radiodensity, muscle mass, muscle quality

PAGES: 35
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Nutrição
SUMMARY:

Introduction: Assessing body composition is fundamental for determining nutritional status and identifying conditions such as sarcopenia, which is associated with unfavorable clinical and functional outcomes in patients with acute and chronic diseases, including cancer. Although the SARC-F is widely used to screen for the risk of sarcopenia, it has limitations, particularly when it comes to assessing muscle mass. Precise techniques such as computed tomography (CT) offer a comprehensive assessment of muscle status, including morphological quantity and quality. Therefore, it becomes necessary to explore the relationship between SARC-F components and muscle parameters assessed by CT, with a focus on the L3, thigh and gluteal regions, in order to improve the understanding of muscle health in cancer patients.

Objectives: Our study aimed to: i) investigate the differences of muscle parameters in relation to each SARC-F component/question; ii) to explore the relationship between SARC-F score with these muscle parameters using various landmarks derived from CT scans of patients with cancer.

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort comprising consecutive patients with cancer, displaying CT scans. SARC-F questionnaire was utilized as a proxy for muscle functionality, with a score > 4 indicating a poor status. Muscle assessment via CT measurements was performed using single cross-sectional images at the level of the third lumbar vertebrae (L3) in the abdominal region, the thigh region, and the total gluteal region at the level of the second sacral vertebrae. Skeletal muscle (SM) cross-sectional area, skeletal muscle index (SMI, normalized to height2), and skeletal muscle radiodensity (SMD) were evaluated for all anatomical landmarks.

Results: A total of 128 patients were included in this analysis (53.1% females, 61.7% older adults). Patients with SARC-F scores > 4 demonstrated significantly lower values of SMD across all landmarks assessed. Those reporting difficulties related to strength (P = .039), requiring assistance in walking (P = .033), and climbing stairs (P = .012) exhibited significantly lower SMD values at the L3 landmark. At gluteus and thigh levels, only patients experiencing difficulty climbing stairs (P = .012) showed significantly lower values of SMD. Only SMD at gluteus level were independently associated with SARC-F score (β adjusted -0.09, 95% CI -0.16 to -0.02).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that individuals with poor muscle composition may experience a higher risk of sarcopenia/poor muscle functionality.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1879430 - ANA PAULA TRUSSARDI FAYH
Interno - 2682821 - EDUARDO CALDAS COSTA
Externa à Instituição - SARA MARIA MOREIRA LIMA VERDE - UECE