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. 2020 Feb;7(1):84-91.
doi: 10.1002/ehf2.12545. Epub 2019 Dec 26.

Discriminating sarcopenia in overweight/obese male patients with heart failure: the influence of body mass index

G W P D Fonseca  1 , Marcelo Rodrigues Dos Santos  1 , Francis Ribeiro de Souza  1 , Liliam Takayama  2 , Rosa Maria Rodrigues Pereira  2 , Carlos Eduardo Negrão  1   3 , Maria-Janieire de Nazaré Nunes Alves  1
Affiliations

Discriminating sarcopenia in overweight/obese male patients with heart failure: the influence of body mass index

G W P D Fonseca et al. ESC Heart Fail. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Aims: The definition of sarcopenia based on appendicular lean mass/height (2) (ALM/height (2) ) is often used, although it can underestimate the prevalence of sarcopenia in overweight/obese patients with heart failure. Therefore, new methods have been proposed to overcome this limitation. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia by three methods and compare body composition in this population.

Methods and results: We enrolled 168 male patients with heart failure (left ventricular ejection fraction <40%). Sixty-six patients (39.3%) were identified with sarcopenia by at least one method. The lower 20th percentile defined as the cut-off point for sarcopenia was 7.03 kg/m2 , -2.32 and 0.76 for Baumgartner's (20.8%), Newman's (21.4%), and Studenski's methods (21.4%), respectively. Patients with body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m2 were more likely to be identified by Baumgartner's than Studenski's method (P < 0.001). However, in patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 , Studenski's and Newman's methods were more likely to detect sarcopenia than Baumgartner's method (both P < 0.005). Patients were further divided into three subgroups: (i) patients classified in all indexes (n = 8), (ii) patients classified in Baumgartner's (sarcopenic; n = 27), and (iii) patients classified in both Newman's and Studenski's methods (sarcopenic obesity; n = 31). Comparing body composition among groups, all sarcopenic groups presented lower total lean mass compared with non-sarcopenic patients, whereas sarcopenic obese patients had higher total lean mass than lean sarcopenic patients.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the prevalence of sarcopenia in overweight/obese patients is similar to lean sarcopenic patients when other methods are considered. In patients with higher BMI, Studenski's method seems to be more feasible to detect sarcopenia.

Keywords: Body composition; Heart failure; Sarcopenia; Sarcopenic obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of sarcopenia according to Baumgartner's method (circle 1), Newman's method (circle 2), and Studenski's method (circle 3). Patients were further divided into three subgroups based on body composition. Number in black intersected by all circles refers to patients included in all indexes (n = 8). Numbers in green represent patients in the sarcopenic group (n = 27). Numbers in red represent patients in the sarcopenic obesity group (n = 31).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of sarcopenia by method in patients with body mass index (BMI) <25 and ≥25 kg/m2. * P = 0.053 vs. Newman's method. † P < 0.001 vs. Studenski's method. ‡ P < 0.005 vs. both Newman's and Studenski's methods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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