• Jeong Woo Han, Hwan Song, and Soo Hyun Kim.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Apr 1; 42: 49-54.

IntroductionLow muscle mass is associated with an increased mortality risk due to medical comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Computed tomography (CT) has been identified as the gold standard for measuring body composition. We evaluated the relationship between the L1 SMI measured from CT and in-hospital mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).MethodsFrom January 2015 to June 2015, 311 patients who were diagnosed with CAP and underwent CT in the ED were retrospectively analyzed. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. All variables with a significance level < 0.1 by univariate analysis were included in a multivariate logistic regression model. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality.ResultsAmong the 311 patients, 33 (10.6%) died. We divided the patients into two groups based on the optimal sex-specific cut-off value of the L1 SMI (45 cm2/m2 in males and 40 cm2/m2 in females). A low L1 SMI was present in 90 (28.9%) of the 311 patients. In multivariate analysis, low L1 SMI, diabetes mellitus, albumin and APACHE II score were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (aOR 3.39, 3.73, 0.09 and 1.10, respectively).ConclusionSMI assessment at L1 is achievable in patients with CAP receiving routine chest CT, and the L1 SMI is associated with high in-hospital mortality, more hospitalizations and ventilator application in patients with CAP in the ED. This could help establish an early strategy for critical care of patients with L1 SMI obtained by chest CT for diagnosis in CAP patients in the ED.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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