Sarcopenia and its diagnosis

Abstract

An increased life expectancy is associated with an increased number of persons suffering from sarcopenia, as manifested by a loss of muscle mass, strength, and body functions (decreased performance) due to aging processes. The development of sarcopenia significantly reduces the quality of life of patients and worsens the results of treatment in the event of life-threatening conditions. Unfortunately, clinicians underestimate its diagnosis and do not pay enough attention to the muscle conditions, as well as the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. To date, active research and search for methods for diagnosing sarcopenia and similar pathological conditions of the muscle tissue (cachexia, fatty infiltration, and inflammatory lesions of muscle tissue) are conducted. Various scales are used to detect sarcopenia at the prehospital stage. An example is the Strength, Assistance with Walking, Rising from a Chair, Climbing Stairs, and Falls questionnaire that assess the following indicators: lifting a load, walking around the room, getting out of bed, climbing the stairs, and involuntary falls. The use of scales is limited in a hospital setting; thus, instrumental diagnostic methods are more informative, particularly bioimpedance, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, but the most in demand is ultrasound imaging of the muscle tissue. The dynamics of the severity of sarcopenia is a promising method used to assess nutritional support and rehabilitation measures in patients under intensive care.