LMQ patients (IQR1) had a worse risk of 1-year fistula recurrence (p<0.01), 1-year mortality (p=0.04), 3-year mortality (p = 0.01), 30-day complication rate (p = 0.01) and dependent discharge (p < 0.01) compared to patients in other quartiles. This effect appears to be attenuation dependent as patients with the highest interquartile range values (IQR4) representing the best muscle quality had overall, lower risk of fistula recurrence, 1-year mortality, 3-year mortality, 30-day complication risk and dependent discharge.
IQR1; 1st–25th percentile, IQR2; 26th – 50th percentile, IQR3; 51st – 75th percentile, IQR4; 76th – 100th percentile, LMQ; Low muscle quality, HUAC; Hounsfield Unit average calculation, * marks significance below α = 0.05.