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Review
. 2023 Aug 26;12(17):5573.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12175573.

Sarcopenia Adversely Affects Outcomes following Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ali Ansaripour  1 , Arian Arjomandi Rad  2 , Marinos Koulouroudias  3 , Dimitrios Angouras  4 , Thanos Athanasiou  5 , Antonios Kourliouros  1
Affiliations
Review

Sarcopenia Adversely Affects Outcomes following Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ali Ansaripour et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Sarcopenia is a degenerative condition characterised by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Its impact on cardiac surgery outcomes remains poorly investigated. This meta-analysis aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence to determine the effect of sarcopenia on cardiac surgery outcomes.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis followed PRISMA guidelines from inception to April 2023 in EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane database, and Google Scholar. Twelve studies involving 2717 patients undergoing cardiac surgery were included. Primary outcomes were early and late mortality; secondary outcomes included surgical time, infection rates, and functional outcomes. Statistical analyses were performed using appropriate methods.

Results: Sarcopenic patients (906 patients) had a significantly higher risk of early mortality (OR: 2.40, 95% CI: 1.44 to 3.99, p = 0.0007) and late mortality (OR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.57 to 4.48, p = 0.0003) compared to non-sarcopenic patients (1811 patients). There were no significant differences in overall surgical time or infection rates. However, sarcopenic patients had longer ICU stays, higher rates of renal dialysis, care home discharge, and longer intubation times.

Conclusion: Sarcopenia significantly increases the risk of early and late mortality following cardiac surgery, and sarcopenic patients also experience poorer functional outcomes.

Keywords: cardiac surgery; frailty; sarcopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA Flow Chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest Plots for the primary outcomes. (A) Early Mortality; (B) Late Mortality. References [12,13,14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest Plots for the secondary outcomes focused on timing. (A) Overall surgical time; (B) CBP time; (C) CC time; (D) Hospital LOS; (E) ICU LOS; (F) Intubation time. References [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,23].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest Plots for the secondary outcomes. (A) Postoperative arrhythmia; (B) Stroke; (C) Sternal wound infection; (D) Need for dialysis; (E) discharge to care home; (F) Sensitivity analysis: Hospital LOS. References [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,23].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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