Quantification of sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by measuring the cross-sectional area of the thigh muscles with magnetic resonance imaging.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To determine the utility of cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), at the level of the thigh muscles, to estimate muscle mass in discriminating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with sarcopenia from those without.

Materials and methods

Consecutive female RA patients were enrolled for this cross-sectional study. Patients were assessed for disease activity, radiological damage, handgrip strength, physical performance and for the presence of sarcopenia, identified in accordance with the EWGSOP2 criteria. A 1.5 T MRI machine was used to scan the thigh muscles. A dimensional region growth algorithm (Horos™) was used to segment the muscles CSAs (in cm²) on MR images located 25 cm above the knee joint (MRI-CSA-25). The MRI-C

SUBMITTER: Salaffi F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10182126 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature