Is There a Correlation Between Sarcopenia and Aortic Aneurysm Morphometry?

Abstract

Is There a Correlation Between Sarcopenia and Aortic Aneurysm Morphometry? Low muscle mass is common in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and is associated with reduced postoperative survival, 1 frailty, and acute and chronic disease. AAA is due to connective tissue abnormalities influenced by enzymatic activity. Matrix metalloproteinases, which are implicated in this process, have also been shown to affect muscle development. 2 It is unclear, however, if low muscle mass is related to the anatomy and evolution of AAA. It was hypothesised that low muscle mass, measured by total psoas area (TPA), is associated with certain features of aneurysmal disease in the abdominal aorta, which may determine suitability for infrarenal endovascular aneurysm repair. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate whether patients with AAA and low muscle mass have different aortic anatomy compared with patients with AAA and normal muscle mass, and to explore the relationship, if any, between TPA and aortic anatomy.Consecutive patients who underwent pre-operative computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdominal aorta in arterial phase between 1 January 2017 and 31 June 2018 were included. Patients with thoraco-abdominal, saccular, mycotic, isolated iliac, and post-dissection aneurysms were excluded. Also excluded were patients who had undergone previous aortic surgery. Anatomical features of the AAA (maximum AAA diameter, proximal aortic neck diameter, and length), AAA extent (infrarenal, juxtarenal, or