Sarcopenia Predicts the Recompensation in Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis

Sarcopenia is associated with increased mortality and poor clinical outcomes in patients with liver cirrhosis. However, the correlation between sarcopenia and recompensation has not been determined until now. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of sarcopenia in predicting recompensation in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

A total of 258 patients with decompensated cirrhosis were enrolled in this retrospective study, and the data of enrolled patients were collected and analyzed.

Overall, 36.82% of patients with decompensated cirrhosis achieved recompensation. The etiology of liver cirrhosis in these patients included hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune liver diseases, schistosomiasis infection, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The decompensating events in these patients included ascites (43.02%), esophagogastric variceal bleeding (42.25%), and hepatic encephalopathy (5.23%); 27.06% of decompensated patients with sarcopenia and 41.62% of patients without sarcopenia achieved recompensation. Univariate logistic analysis demonstrated several variables were associated with recompensation, including erythrocyte, hemoglobin, the third lumbar skeletal muscle index, sarcopenia, and subcutaneous fat area (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that sarcopenia (odds ratio = 0.52; P = 0.03) and hemoglobin (odds ratio = 1.02; P < 0.01) were independent predictors for recompensation.

Sarcopenia and hemoglobin were independent predictors for recompensation of decompensated patients, which helped to identify high-risk patients who have difficulty in achieving recompensation.