• Lívia Alves Amaral Santos, Talles Bazeia Lima, Xingshun Qi, Sérgio Alberto Rupp de Paiva, and Fernando Gomes Romeiro.
• Gastroenterology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Univ Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Nutrition. 2021 May 1; 85: 111132.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the effects of muscle wasting according to measures obtained by different limb muscle mass indexes, to find the best mortality predictor among outpatients with cirrhosis.MethodsPatients with liver cirrhosis (N = 210) were submitted to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Appendicular muscle mass (AMM), AMM index (AMMI), upper limb muscle mass (ULMM), and ULMM index (ULMMI) were calculated. The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, anthropometric measures, and the presence of ascites and edema were also registered. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to determine mortality predictors; the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to establish the best cutoff point to predict mortality.ResultsThe mean follow-up duration was 49 ± 15.59 mo. ULMM and ULMMI were clearly associated with mortality (P = 0.007 and 0.001, respectively), whereas AMM and AMMI were not. After calculating the cutoff points for men and women, the presence of a depleted ULMMI as a categorical variable was associated with a mortality risk 2.5 times higher.ConclusionsThe results suggest that using ULMMI is better than AMMI for predicting mortality of outpatients with cirrhosis, thus offering a better measure to detect muscle wasting in this population using DXA.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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