Current management strategies for sarcopenia and frailty in cirrhosis: Missing link in transplant candidacy

Figure 1 Conceptual distinctions between sarcopenia and frailty. Sarcopenia is recognized as a disease entity primarily affecting skeletal muscle with definitions anchored in quantifiable loss of muscle mass, strength, and performance. In contrast, frailty is defined as a broader clinical syndrome characterized by diminished physiologic reserve and vulnerability to external stressors. While sarcopenia can be diagnosed using objective measures, frailty encompasses multisystem dysfunction, including immune, endocrine, neurologic, and gut microbiome factors, and is often assessed through more subjective parameters.