Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Segmentation and Linear Measurement for Body Composition Analysis using Slice-O-Matic and Horos
Published on: March 21, 2021
CT-defined sarcopenia as a predictive factor in patients undergoing portal vein embolization: a systematic review and
Hans-Jonas Meyer1, Silke Zimmermann2, Alexey Surov3
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Background:
Sarcopenia can be assessed by cross-sectional imaging and is a prognostic imaging marker in several diseases and tumor entities. First reports demonstrated a significant impact of the presence of sarcopenia on the outcome of portal vein embolization (PVE). The present analysis sought to investigate the effect of computed tomography (CT)-defined sarcopenia in patients undergoing PVE based on a meta-analysis.
Methods:
MEDLINE library was screened for papers analyzing the association between CT-defined sarcopenia/low skeletal muscle mass and the treatment outcome of PVE up to February 2026. The primary endpoints of the systematic review were the increase or the volume or the growth rate per week of mean future liver remnant (FLR) in % between the groups stratified by sarcopenia. The random-effect model was used for the statistical analysis.
Results:
The meta-analysis comprised a total of seven studies with 599 patients with different malignant tumors undergoing PVE. For the effect of the future liver remnant volume (FLRV), the pooled mean difference (MD) between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic group was 2.70% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31-5.09], P=0.03, favoring non-sarcopenia. For the effect of the FLRV increase in %, the pooled MD between the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic group was 10.87% (95% CI: 3.45-18.30), P=0.004. The pooled correlation coefficient between the skeletal muscle index (SMI) and the liver growth rate after PVE was 0.40 (95% CI: 0.17-0.63), P<0.001.
Conclusions:
No statistically effects were identified for the impact on resection rate, 90-day mortality and postoperative liver failure. CT-defined sarcopenia has a statistically but not clinically impact on the FLR in patients undergoing PVE.
