Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40434634›Full record

ArticleHepatology communications2025

Comparing the performance of 3 sarcopenia definitions for predicting adverse events prior to liver transplant.

Heidi E Johnston, Hannah L Mayr, Melita Andelkovic, Tahnie G Takefala, Yanyan Chen, Aaron P Thrift, Graeme A Macdonald, Ingrid J Hickman

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Hepatology communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The Nutrition Landscape in Chronic Liver Disease.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Heidi E JohnstonDepartment of Nutrition & Dietetics, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5332-6520
Hannah L MayrDepartment of Nutrition & Dietetics, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7356-653
Melita AndelkovicPrincess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Liver Transplant Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-6050-8381
Tahnie G TakefalaDepartment of Nutrition & Dietetics, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0009-0006-2374-459
Yanyan ChenSection of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID 0009-0008-5063-8447
Aaron P ThriftSection of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0084-5308
Graeme A MacdonaldPrincess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland Liver Transplant Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0929-110
Ingrid J HickmanDepartment of Nutrition & Dietetics, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3205-9165

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSarcopenia is a syndrome of severe muscle wasting, associated with adverse outcomes related to liver transplantation (LT). There are several approaches used to identify sarcopenia. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia using 3 different criteria and determine how these performed in relation to clinical outcomes.

methodsThe cohort study included 237 adults with cirrhosis referred for LT. Sarcopenia was identified using (1) CT-defined; and the (2) original and (3) updated European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria (EWGSOP1 and 2). Logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95% CI for the relationships between sarcopenia and receiving an LT, unplanned admissions pre-LT, surgical complications, and length of stay for the LT admission. Fine-Gray competing risk analysis explored the impact of sarcopenia on receiving an LT and unplanned admissions. The AUC determined the predictive utility of the criteria.

resultsThe prevalence of CT-defined sarcopenia (52%) was more than twice and 4-fold that of EWGSOP1-defined (22%) and EWGSOP2-defined (11%) sarcopenia, respectively. No criteria demonstrated a significant association with time to LT nor the time to unplanned admissions pre-LT. Similarly, none of the 3 criteria had superior predictive utility for the clinical outcomes for unplanned hospital admissions pre-LT of receiving an LT, with all 3 criteria having identical moderate AUCs for unplanned admissions (0.70) and similar weak AUCs (≤0.55) for the likelihood of receiving an LT.

conclusionsSarcopenia in patients undergoing LT evaluation is prevalent. EWGSOP criteria appear to offer no advantage over CT-only criteria in identifying patients at increased risk of adverse LT outcomes. Bedside measures of muscle function may be of benefit in tracking the effectiveness of interventions targeting sarcopenia.

Indexed as

Liver CirrhosisLiver TransplantationPostoperative ComplicationsSarcopeniaAdultAgedFemaleHumansLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceRisk AssessmentTomography, X-Ray Computedadvanced liver diseasecirrhosisclinical risk assessmentlow muscle massmuscle wasting

Identifiers

PMID40434634
PMCPMC12122176

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.