Sarcopenia HIBA score predicts sarcopenia and mortality in patients on the liver transplant waiting list.

Sarcopenia is a prevalent condition that predicts prognosis in patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT). The gold standard for the diagnosis of sarcopenia is the assessment of the muscular area at L3 with computed tomography (CT) scan (skeletal muscle index [SMI]), but the routine use of CT scan is limited in clinical practice. Thus, we designed a single-center observational study aimed to evaluate the clinical factors associated with the presence of sarcopenia by SMI, and to build a score capable of predicting or excluding the presence of sarcopenia in patients on the LT waiting list (WL). Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the factors independently associated with sarcopenia, and the Sarcopenia Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires (HIBA) score was built from the resulting model after internal validation analysis by bootstrapping and correction for optimism. The predictive capability of mortality on the WL was evaluated with competing risk regression analysis. A total of 215 patients with cirrhosis on the LT WL were included. The independent factors associated with the presence of sarcopenia were male sex (odds ratio [OR]: 6.09, p < 0.001), body mass index (OR: 0.74, p < 0.001), Child Pugh (OR: 1.44, p < 0.001), and the ratio creatinine/Cystatin C (OR: 0.03, p = 0.007). The Sarcopenia HIBA score constructed with these variables showed an area under the curve of 0.862. During follow-up, 77 (36%) patients underwent LT, 46 (21%) died, and 92 (43%) remained alive. After adjusting for Model for End-Stage Liver Disease-Sodium, Sarcopenia HIBA score was an independent predictor of WL mortality (subhazard ratio: 1.19; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.40; p = 0.042). Sarcopenia HIBA score is an easy-to-use, objective, and reliable diagnostic and predictive tool that can be useful to improve the prognostic evaluation and allow identifying a group of patients with a higher risk of death while awaiting LT.

Utilidad de la tomografía computarizada multicorte para la estimación de la composición del derrame pericárdico / Usefulness of computed tomography densities to estimate the composition of pericardial effusion

Resumen El derrame pericárdico (DP) es una entidad frecuente en la práctica diaria, que puede ocurrir por un amplio rango de patologías. Los métodos por imágenes constituyen una herramienta diagnóstica clave en la evaluación del pericardio. El ecocardiograma transtorácico (ETT) se considera de primera línea por su costo-efectividad. La tomografía computarizada multicorte (TCMC), por su parte, representa un valioso complemento ante limitaciones del ETT y en la evaluación de urgencia del paciente con sospecha de DP. El objetivo del trabajo es mostrar la utilidad y rol de la TCMC, mediante la medición de densidades, para estimar la etiología del DP, ilustrado con casos de nuestra institución.

Abstract Pericardial effusion (PE) is a common entity in daily practice, which can occur due to a wide range of conditions. Imaging methods are a key diagnostic tool in the evaluation of the pericardium. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) is the first line imaging method because of its cost-effectiveness. Multi-slice Computed Tomography (MSCT), on the other hand, represents a valuable complement to the limitations of TTE and in emergency evaluation of the patient with suspected PE. The objective of this review is to show the usefulness and role of the MSCT —through the measurement of densities— to estimate the etiology of PE, illustrated with cases of our Institution.

Displasia fibrosa de columna lumbar en una mujer de mediana edad: Presentación de un caso / Fibrous dysplasia of the lumbar spine in a middle-aged woman. Case presentation

La displasia fibrosa es una lesión ósea benigna caracterizada por el desarrollo anormal del tejido fibroso de disposición arremolinada, con trabéculas de hueso inmaduro no laminar. Se distinguen dos formas: monostótica y poliostótica. El compromiso de columna vertebral se asocia, con más frecuencia, a la variedad poliostótica; la forma monostótica es infrecuente. Presentamos a una mujer de 46 años que consultó por lumbocruralgia derecha de dos meses de evolución, con diagnóstico definitivo de displasia fibrosa de columna lumbar. Los estudios por imágenes mostraron una lesión monostótica lítico-quística con tabiques internos localizada en el arco posterior de la quinta vértebra lumbar. Sus características en los estudios por imágenes sugirieron un quiste óseo aneurismático, mientras que la anatomía patológica fue reveladora frente al diagnóstico final de displasia fibrosa. Los síntomas menores y la ausencia de complicaciones llevaron a indicar un tratamiento conservador. Si bien el compromiso de columna lumbar por displasia fibrosa monostótica es infrecuente, debería considerarse entre los diagnósticos diferenciales de una lesión lítica solitaria en dicha localización. No obstante, no se descarta mediante histopatología que pueda tratarse de un caso de coexistencia de displasia fibrosa y quiste óseo aneurismático o que la displasia fibrosa se haya desarrollado sobre un quiste óseo aneurismático. Nivel de Evidencia: IV

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a benign skeletal disorder characterized by abnormal development of fibrous tissue in a whorled pattern and containing trabeculae of immature non-lamellar bone. FD has two forms of clinical presentations: monostotic and polyostotic. Spinal involvement is seen mostly in the polyostotic form and is very unusual in the monostotic form. We present a 46-year-old woman that complained of right low back pain with a 2-month evolution. The definitive diagnosis was FD of the lumbar spine. Imaging testing revealed a lytic-cystic monostotic lesion with internal septa located in the posterior arch of the fifth lumbar vertebra, suggestive of Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (ABC). However, the anatomical pathology revealed FD as the final diagnosis. Conservative treatment was undertaken due to minimal symptoms and the absence of complications. Although monostotic FD of lumbar spine is rare, it should be taken into account among the differential diagnoses of a single osteolytic lesion. However, histopathology testing cannot rule out the coexistence of FB and ABC or a setting of FB secondary to an ABC. Level of Evidence: IV

Cystatin C and Sarcopenia Predict Acute on Chronic Liver Failure Development and Mortality in Patients on the Liver Transplant Waiting List.

BACKGROUND: Cystatin C (CysC) is an early biomarker of renal dysfunction scarcely studied in patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT). Sarcopenia is frequent in cirrhosis and impacts prognosis. We aimed to assess the capability of these factors to predict survival and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in patients awaiting LT, as well as early post-LT outcomes. METHODS: Single-center study that included all cirrhotic patients listed for LT between 2014 and 2017. Competing risk regression analysis was used to evaluate the capability of liver-, kidney-, and global status-related variables at waitlist (WL) inclusion to predict WL mortality and ACLF. Variables associated with post-LT outcomes were evaluated with logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: One-hundred-and-eighty patients were included. Fifty-six (31%) patients developed ACLF, 54 (30%) underwent LT and 35 (19%) died. In the adjusted competing risk regression analysis, CysC ≥ 1.5 mg/L, sarcopenia and MELD-Na were independent predictors of ACLF in the WL, while CysC ≥ 1.5 mg/L, sarcopenia and albumin were independent predictors of mortality. The cumulative incidence of ACLF and mortality at 12 months were 50% and 34% in patients with sarcopenia and CysC ≥1.5 mg/L. An estimated glomerular filtration rate by chronic kidney disease (CKD)-EPI-CysC-creatinine <60 mL/min/1.73 m at WL inclusion was an independent predictor of the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) in the first month post-LT. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of CysC and sarcopenia are strongly associated with the ACLF and mortality in WL. The assessment of both risk factors may improve the prognostic evaluation and allow identifying a group of patients with a very high risk of poor outcomes while awaiting LT.