Myosteatosis as a Shared Biomarker for Sarcopenia and Cachexia Using MRI and Ultrasound.
Jevin Lortie, Benjamin Rush, Katie Osterbauer and 11 others
PMID 36189019WHAT IT FOUND
Ultrasound echo intensity correlated strongly with MRI fat fraction, suggesting it can estimate muscle fat infiltration at the bedside.
However, neither measure distinguished healthy older adults from those undergoing cancer treatment, and traditional mass metrics like BMI showed no such correlation.
Key findings
01Rectus femoris echo intensity measured by ultrasound was strongly associated with MRI-based proton density fat fraction, a reference marker for muscle fat infiltration.
02Neither ultrasound echo intensity nor MRI fat fraction differed significantly between healthy older adults and older adults undergoing treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.
03Body mass index and muscle cross-sectional area were not associated with MRI fat fraction, indicating that muscle size and weight do not reflect muscle quality in this context.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was a pilot with only 10 participants per group, so small sample size may have masked true differences. The cancer patients were recruited early in their treatment, which may explain why they did not differ from healthy older adults. The cancer patients were not confirmed to have cachexia or sarcopenia. Muscle function and diet were not assessed. CT scans were only available for the cancer group, preventing direct comparison of CT and MRI/US across all participants.
Declared interests
The authors declare no commercial or financial conflicts of interest. The study was funded by various National Institutes of Health grants, a USDA Hatch project, and university funds.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that ultrasound echo intensity can currently identify cancer cachexia. The study found no significant difference in echo intensity between healthy older adults and those undergoing cancer treatment, likely because the cancer group was recruited early in treatment and did not have confirmed cachexia.