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Weak correlation between total psoas muscle area and sarcopenia index for children with brain tumor
Ziwen Wang1, Shuangmei Zeng1, Ling Liu1
1Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Insights
The sarcopenia index (SI) is not a reliable measure of muscle mass in pediatric brain tumor patients. Further research is needed to validate SI as a biomarker for sarcopenia in this population.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Biomarker Discovery
- Muscle Physiology
Background:
- Sarcopenia, characterized by loss of muscle mass, is a concern in pediatric oncology.
- The sarcopenia index (SI) is a potential, but unvalidated, biomarker for assessing muscle mass in children.
- Accurate assessment of muscle mass is crucial for monitoring treatment effects and nutritional status in pediatric cancer patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of the sarcopenia index (SI) as a measure of skeletal muscle mass in pediatric patients diagnosed with brain tumors.
- To determine if SI correlates with established measures of muscle mass in this specific patient cohort.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of pediatric patients (ages 1-16) with brain tumors.
- Collected serum creatinine (Cr) and cystatin C (CysC) levels within 28 days of abdominal MRI.
- Assessed total psoas muscle area (tPMA) from MRI and calculated z-scores for SI, tPMA, Cr, and CysC relative to age- and sex-matched references.
Main Results:
- The SI z-score showed no significant correlation with the tPMA z-score (r=0.004).
- Both Cr and CysC z-scores positively correlated with tPMA z-scores (r=0.249 and 0.320, respectively).
- tPMA z-scores correlated strongly with body mass index z-scores (r=0.582) and decreased with higher tumor WHO grades, unlike SI z-scores.
Conclusions:
- The sarcopenia index (SI) demonstrates a very weak correlation with muscle mass in pediatric brain tumor patients.
- The current findings suggest SI is not a viable biomarker for sarcopenia in this population.
- Further investigation is required to establish the clinical utility and validity of SI in pediatric oncology.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to determine whether the sarcopenia index (SI) is a viable measure of muscle mass in pediatric patients with brain tumors.
Methods:
Retrospectively enrolled patients (1-16 years) who had serum creatinine (Cr) and cystatin C (CysC) levels evaluated within 28 days of an abdomen magnetic resonance imaging scan for the lumbar vertebrae 3-4 total psoas muscle area (tPMA) were studied. Variables were compared using their z scores calculated from age- and sex-dependent reference. We hypothesized that a low SI indicated less skeletal muscle, and therefore potentially indicated sarcopenia.
Results:
The SI z score had no correlation with tPMA z score (r = 0.004). Both Cr and CysC levels were positively correlated with tPMA in z scores (r = 0.249 and 0.320). tPMA strongly correlated with body mass index in z scores (r = 0.582). The z scores of tPMA, Cr and CysC decreased with elevated World Health Organization grades of tumor, but the z scores of SI showed no significant dependence on WHO grades.
Conclusion:
The correlation of SI to muscle mass is very weak in our sample of pediatric patients with brain tumor. Its viability as biomarker for sarcopenia needs more study.
