Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026
3D Ultrasound Imaging: Fast and Cost-effective Morphometry of Musculoskeletal Tissue
Published on: November 27, 2017
Low muscle quality on a procedural computed tomography scan assessed with deep learning as a practical useful
Dennis van Erck1, Pim Moeskops2, Josje D Schoufour3
1Department of Cardiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Background & Aims:
Accurate diagnosis of sarcopenia requires evaluation of muscle quality, which refers to the amount of fat infiltration in muscle tissue. In this study, we aim to investigate whether we can independently predict mortality risk in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) patients, using automatic deep learning algorithms to assess muscle quality on procedural computed tomography (CT) scans.
Methods:
This study included 1199 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) between January 2010 and January 2020. A procedural CT scan was performed as part of the preprocedural-TAVI evaluation, and the scans were analyzed using deep-learning-based software to automatically determine skeletal muscle density (SMD) and intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT). The association of SMD and IMAT with all-cause mortality was analyzed using a Cox regression model, adjusted for other known mortality predictors, including muscle mass.
Results:
The mean age of the participants was 80 ± 7 years, 53% were female. The median observation time was 1084 days, and the overall mortality rate was 39%. We found that the lowest tertile of muscle quality, as determined by SMD, was associated with an increased risk of mortality (HR 1.40 [95%CI: 1.15-1.70], p < 0.01). Similarly, low muscle quality as defined by high IMAT in the lowest tertile was also associated with increased mortality risk (HR 1.24 [95%CI: 1.01-1.52], p = 0.04).
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that deep learning-assessed low muscle quality, as indicated by fat infiltration in muscle tissue, is a practical, useful and independent predictor of mortality after TAVI.
