Table 1.

Summary of main studies investigating the association between pre-liver transplantation CT-determined low skeletal muscle index and adverse outcomes in patients with cirrhosis

Author/year	Study population	Sarcopenia definition	Adverse outcome associated with sarcopenia
Pre-liver transplant outcomes
Carey et al., 2016 [6]	396 patients listed for LT	L3 SMI < 39 cm2/m2 for women and < 50 cm2/m2 for men	Higher waitlist mortality
Van Vugt et al., 2018 [18]	224 patients listed for LT	L3 SMI < 44.1 cm2/m2 for men and < 37.9 cm2/m2 for women	Increased health-related costs in patients waiting for LT
Bhanji et al., 2018 [16]	675 patients evaluated for LT	L3 SMI < 39 cm2/m2 for women and < 50 cm2/m2 for men	Higher risk of hepatic encephalopathy
Post-liver transplant outcomes
DiMartini et al., 2013 [9]	338 LT recipients	L3 SMI ≤ 38.5 cm2/m2 for women and ≤ 52.4 cm2/m2 for men	Longer intensive care unit (ICU) stay, total length of stay, and days of intubation Predictor of discharge to medical facility in men
Montano-Loza et al., 2014 [14]	248 LT recipients	L3 SMI ≤ 41 cm2/m2 for women and ≤ 53 cm2/m2 for men with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 and ≤ 43 cm2/m2 in patients with BMI < 25	Longer hospital stay and higher incidence of bacterial infections within the first 90 days following LT
Kuo et al., 2019 [116]	126 patients undergoing urgent evaluation and LT	L3 SMI < 48 cm2/m2 for men	Post-LT mortality in acutely ill men
Bhanji et al., 2019 [117]	293 LT recipients	L3 SMI < 39 cm2/m2 for women and < 50 cm2/m2 for men	Progressive worsening of sarcopenia in the interval between LT evaluation and post-LT Increased post-LT length of hospital stay

L3 third lumbar vertebrate, LT liver transplantation, SMI skeletal muscle index