Assessment and prediction of malnutrition and sarcopenia in liver cirrhosis patients

• Published in: Nutrire : revista de Sociedade Brasileira de Alimentação e Nutrição = journal of the Brazilian Society of Food and Nutrition 2023-01, Vol.48 (1), p.6, Article 6
• Main Authors: Sehgal, Pallavi, Sharma, Sonika, Sood, Ajit, Dharni, Khushdeep, Kakkar, Chandan, Batta, Shaveta, Sahotra, Mathew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical Nutrition; Food Science; Liver cirrhosis; Malnutrition; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nutrition; Nutritional status; Sarcopenia
• ISSN: 2316-7874; 1519-8928; 2316-7874
• DOI: 10.1186/s41110-023-00189-9

Background Malnutrition and sarcopenia are prognostic indicators of overall survival in patients and it has a serious effect on the prognosis of people with liver cirrhosis. Malnutrition in decompensated cirrhosis ranges from 60 to 100% while 20–30% patients with compensated cirrhosis are malnourished. Aim The objective of this study was to see how prevalent malnutrition and sarcopenia were among LC patients, at a tertiary hospital in Ludhiana, Punjab, and to look into additional parameters that could be linked to malnutrition using PG-SGA. Methods In this study, 500 adult patients, diagnosed with liver cirrhosis were recruited for assessment and prediction of malnutrition and sarcopenia. PG-SGA was used for malnutrition assessment and sarcopenia was assessed with SARC-F, muscle strength, muscle quality and physical performance tests. Nutritional status and sarcopenia assessment techniques were compared to clinical and demographic data. Results Almost half of the study population was malnourished and having sarcopenia (40–50%). Alcohol was one of the most common cause of liver cirrhosis. Nutritional status was significantly associated with Child Pugh score, GI symptoms. HGS and SMI had median values of 24 kg and 41.0 cm 2 /m 2 , respectively. These values were significantly higher in men than in women. Conclusion Malnutrition was prevalent in 40% of the population . Nutrition intervention and patients’ prognosis may be improved if sarcopenia and malnutrition are detected early. Findings of the study suggest that PG-SGA and SARC-F could be used for assessment of malnutrition and sarcopenia in early stages of liver cirrhosis instead of going for CT-based sarcopenia assessment.