Sarcopenia as a prognostic factor for outcomes after isolated tricuspid valve surgery

Sarcopenia, characterized by decreased skeletal muscle mass, is a comprehensive and objective marker of frailty and is associated with poor postoperative outcomes in adult surgery patients. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic implications of preoperative sarcopenia assessed by chest computed tomography in patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve surgery.

This observational study retrospectively reviewed records of 144 consecutive adult patients who underwent isolated tricuspid valve surgery between January 2010 and December 2016. Preoperative chest computed tomography scans were used to measure the area of the erector spinae muscle and pectoralis muscle which was then indexed to height in meters squared. The total skeletal muscle index was defined as the sum of the right and left cross-sectional areas of the erector spinae muscle index and the pectoralis muscle index. Sarcopenia was defined as any total skeletal muscle index below the 50th sex-specific percentile. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify the independent association between preoperative sarcopenia and major 30-day postoperative complications.

A total of 53 (36.8%) patients suffered from complications. Major 30-day postoperative complications occurred more frequently in patients with sarcopenia than in those without sarcopenia [46.6% (34/73) vs. 26.8% (19/71), p = 0.022]. With multivariable analyses, sarcopenia was independently associated with incidence of major 30-day postoperative complications (hazard ratio 2.24, 95% confidence interval 1.27-3.94, p = 0.005).

Our study demonstrates a significant association between preoperative total skeletal muscle index and major 30-day postoperative complications in patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve surgery.