The role of shear wave elastography in diagnosing sarcopenia in patients with type 2 diabetes

To assess the utility of shear wave elastography (SWE) for the diagnosis of sarcopenia in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

In this study, we measured the shear wave velocity (SWV) in the medial gastrocnemius muscle (GCM) in both the relaxed and stretched states via SWE. The study involved 273 T2D patients at Zhongda Hospital Southeast University and was conducted between March 2022 and June 2023. In addition to the SWV, we evaluated the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), muscle strength as measured by handgrip strength, and gait speed as measured by the 6-meter walk test. We analyzed the relationships between conventional sarcopenia indicators and SWV variables and developed diagnostic models based on significant predictors.

The age of the patients ranged from 60 to 72 years, with a median age of 66 years, and nearly half (48.0%, n = 131) were female. On the basis of the 2019 criteria set by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS), the participants were categorized into nonsarcopenia (212, 77.7%) and sarcopenia (61, 22.3%) groups. There was a notable difference in the SWV between those with and without sarcopenia (p < 0.01). A robust positive correlation was identified between traditional sarcopenia indicators and the SWV_bent. A logistic regression model incorporating BMI, ASMI, SWV_straight, and SWV_bent demonstrated high sensitivity (96.7%) and specificity (82.5%), with an AUC of 0.946.

Our findings suggest that SWE could be a valuable tool for the objective assessment of sarcopenia in T2D patients. However, additional large-scale, multicenter, and prospective studies are warranted to validate these results.