Hari A. Muscular abnormalities in liver cirrhosis. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27(29): 4862-4878 [PMID: 34447231 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i29.4862]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Andrej Hari, MD, Doctor, Department of gastroenterology and hepatology, General hospital Celje, Oblakova ulica 5, Celje 3000, Savinjska, Slovenia. andrej.hari@sb-celje.si
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 7, 2021; 27(29): 4862-4878 Published online Aug 7, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i29.4862
Muscular abnormalities in liver cirrhosis
Andrej Hari
Andrej Hari, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, General Hospital Celje, Celje 3000, Savinjska, Slovenia
Author contributions: Hari A contributed to acquisition and interpretation of data, drafting the article and final approval of the version of the article to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declare that he has no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Andrej Hari, MD, Doctor, Department of gastroenterology and hepatology, General hospital Celje, Oblakova ulica 5, Celje 3000, Savinjska, Slovenia. andrej.hari@sb-celje.si
Received: March 7, 2021 Peer-review started: March 7, 2021 First decision: April 17, 2021 Revised: April 19, 2021 Accepted: July 19, 2021 Article in press: July 19, 2021 Published online: August 7, 2021
Abstract
Sarcopenia is becoming a well-established player in evaluating patients with chronic liver disease. Data regarding its clinical significance and consequences in the course of liver disease have been growing; many of the data support the idea that it impacts decompensation event frequency, prolonged hospitalization, and mortality, as well as providing the possibility to better prioritize patients on lists awaiting liver transplantation. When assessing the whole clinical scope of the field, which includes malnutrition and frailty, as well as the complete spectrum of muscle mass, strength, and function, it becomes clear that a well-founded approach in everyday clinical practice is essential. In this respect, this article attempts to unveil the most recently published data regarding possible methods and modalities that could be used to diagnose sarcopenia as early as possible, along with the required accuracy and reliability. From the most important field discoveries to data that need further clarification, the merits and weaknesses of the very diverse existing evaluation methods are presented. Finally, a critical overview is given, in an attempt to discern study lines of importance from those that could pose further ambiguity for the theme. The author also poses relevant questions that remain unanswered but are of clinical importance in the field.
Core Tip: Knowledge regarding the influence of sarcopenia in the course of chronic liver disease has greatly expanded in the past ten years, especially with respect to cirrhosis. Data show that it has a great influence on disease decompensation and patient mortality, providing clues for the development of newer evaluation modalities and sarcopenia indices. Nonetheless, data regarding the therapeutic consequences and interventions remain scarce. This article attempts to summarize the current state of knowledge of this important clinical topic with a critical evaluation of some related groundbreaking studies.
