ArticleJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2026
The Reliability of Measuring Muscle Cross-Sectional Area in Children Undergoing Treatment for Musculoskeletal Sarcoma.
Article in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- The Reliability of Measuring Muscle Cross-Sectional Area in Children Undergoing Treatment for Musculoskeletal Sarcoma.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChanges in musculoskeletal health and function are increasingly recognised as important long-term consequences of treatment for malignant bone tumours in paediatric populations. Accurate and reliable assessment methods are critical for monitoring these changes during treatment. We aimed to determine the inter- and intra-rater reliability of MRI-based measurements of muscle cross-sectional area in children undergoing treatment for paediatric musculoskeletal sarcoma.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study at a tertiary paediatric cancer centre. Eligible participants were aged 2-17 years and had undergone routine clinical MRI scans as part of their treatment for musculoskeletal sarcoma. Muscle cross-sectional area was measured, focusing on key lower limb muscle/muscle groups. Three trained raters independently performed all measurements. Inter- and intra-rater reliability were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Measurement precision was evaluated using minimal detectable change (MDC) values, expressed as a percentage of mean muscle size.
resultsNineteen patients (mean age 11.6 ± 2.6 years; 11 female and 8 male) were included. Diagnoses included osteosarcoma (n = 12), Ewing sarcoma (n = 5), rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 1) and synovial sarcoma (n = 1). The most common tumour location was the distal femur (n = 9), followed by proximal tibia (n = 2), pelvis (n = 2), proximal fibula (n = 1), distal fibula (n = 1) and other sites (n = 4). Metastatic disease was present in seven patients, while 12 had localised disease. Once images affected by tumour were excluded, a minimum of 60 images of each muscle/muscle group were included for analysis. Inter-rater reliability was excellent for psoas (ICC = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95-0.98), gracilis (ICC = 0.96, CI: 0.93-0.98), medial gastrocnemius (ICC = 0.91, CI: 0.86-0.94), mid-femoral muscle circumference (ICC = 0.99, CI: 0.99-0.99) and mid-tibial muscle circumference (ICC = 0.99, CI: 0.99-0.99). Good inter-rater reliability was found for rectus femoris (ICC = 0.88, CI: 0.83-0.95) and biceps femoris (ICC = 0.83, CI: 0.75-0.89). Intra-rater reliability was excellent across all muscles assessed (ICCs: 0.92-0.99). MDC values indicated highest measurement precision for mid-femoral muscle circumference (10.62%), mid-tibial muscle circumference (11.69%) and psoas (18.26%), enabling detection of clinically meaningful changes over time.
conclusionsThis study demonstrates that MRI measurement of muscle cross-sectional area in children with musculoskeletal sarcoma is a reliable tool. MDC values allow for identification of true muscle loss, supporting early intervention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.