Table 1.
Descriptive statistics stratified by sarcopenia
| No sarcopenia | Sarcopenia | P‐value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | 352 | 176 | ||
| Period, n (%) | [2000, 2005] | 16 (5) | 5 (3) | 0.454 |
| (2005, 2010] | 58 (16) | 38 (22) | ||
| (2010, 2015] | 197 (56) | 95 (54) | ||
| (2015, 2020] | 81 (23) | 38 (22) | ||
| Male, n (%) | Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| n (%) | 302 (86) | 151 (86) | 1.000 | |
| Age (years) | Missing (%) | 1 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Mean (SD) | 57 (8) | 56 (10) | 0.611 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 53|58|62 | 52|58|62 | ||
| Range | 20; 74 | 14; 76 | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | Missing (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Mean (SD) | 27 (5) | 26 (5) | 0.008* | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 24|26|30 | 22|26|28 | ||
| Range | 5; 42 | 14; 49 | ||
| Meld score | Missing (%) | 40 (11) | 19 (11) | |
| Mean (SD) | 12 (6) | 13 (7) | 0.054 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 8|10|15 | 9|11|15 | ||
| Range | 2; 40 | 2; 40 | ||
| Spleen size (cm) | Missing (%) | 144 (41) | 74 (42) | |
| Mean (SD) | 14 (2.7) | 14.5 (2.9) | 0.292 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 12.3|13.9|15.3 | 12.4|14.1|16.4 | ||
| Range | 4.4; 23.3 | 7.2; 21.9 | ||
| Child‐Pugh class n (%) | Missing (%) | 20 (6) | 7 (4) | |
| A | 177 (50) | 87 (49) | 0.591 | |
| B | 122 (35) | 60 (34) | ||
| C | 33 (9) | 22 (12) | ||
| ALBI score | Missing (%) | 12 (3) | 8 (5) | |
| Mean (SD) | −2 (0.7) | −1.9 (0.7) | 0.200 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | −2.6|−2|−1.5 | −2.5|−1.9|−1.4 | ||
| Range | −3.8; 0 | −3.6; −0.1 | ||
| Ascites | Missing (%) | 25 (7) | 15 (9) | |
| n (%) | 102 (30) | 62 (36) | 0.173 | |
| Encephalopathy | Missing (%) | 26 (7) | 16 (9) | |
| n (%) | 49 (14) | 32 (19) | 0.249 | |
| Pre‐treatment n (%) | Missing (%) | 46 (13) | 13 (7) | |
| n (%) | 238 () | 122 () | 0.766 | |
| TACE | 174 (49) | 88 (50) | 0.975 | |
| Ablation | 40 (11) | 19 (11) | 0.692 | |
| Ethanol | 17 (5) | 4 (2) | 0.238 | |
| Resection | 9 (3) | 3 (2) | 0.757 | |
| Tumour number | Missing (%) | 5 (1) | 3 (2) | |
| Mean (SD) | 3 (2) | 3 (3) | 0.781 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 2|3|5 | 2|3|5 | ||
| Range | 1; 105 | 0; 100 | ||
| Tumour size (mm) | Missing (%) | 3 (1) | 2 (1) | |
| Mean (SD) | 35 (21) | 38 (31) | 0.720 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 25|37|50 | 24|40|50 | ||
| Range | 1; 260 | 0; 470 | ||
| AFP (log10 (ng/mL)) | Missing (%) | 21 (6) | 18 (10) | |
| Mean (SD) | 1.4 (0.9) | 1.6 (1.1) | 0.344 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 0.7|1.1|2 | 0.7|1.2|2.3 | ||
| Range | −0.3; 4.9 | −0.2; 4.9 | ||
| Vascular invasion | Missing (%) | 14 (4) | 4 (2) | |
| n (%) | 139 (41) | 81 (47) | 0.180 | |
| SMI (cm2/m2) | Mean (SD) | 54 (7) | 43 (5) | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 50|54|59 | 39|43|47 | ||
| Range | 37; 75 | 25; 51 | ||
| SMRA (HU) | Missing (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| Mean (SD) | 40 (8) | 37 (9) | <0.001* | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 36|41|46 | 32|37|43 | ||
| Range | 11; 58 | 13; 64 | ||
| VAT (cm2) | Missing (%) | 1 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| Mean (SD) | 147 (85) | 142 (88) | 0.459 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 82|139|195 | 85|119|192 | ||
| Range | 5; 449 | 4; 481 | ||
| SAT (cm2) | Missing (%) | 1 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| Mean (SD) | 183 (102) | 167 (111) | 0.057 | |
| Q1|Q2|Q3 | 110|167|234 | 87|154|216 | ||
| Range | 4; 532 | 3; 785 | ||
| Recurrence n (%) | 96 (27) | 50 (28) | 0.863 | |
| Death n (%) | 105 (30) | 72 (41) | 0.015 | |
| Median follow‐up [95% CI] (years) | 4.9 [4.4–5.4] | 5.6 [5–6.3] | 0.256 | |
| Median overall survival [95% CI] (years) | 12.6 [10.7–NA] | 8.1 [6–NA] | 0.017 | |
| 5 year overall survival [95% CI] | 0.69 [0.64–0.75] | 0.58 [0.5–0.66] | 0.565 | |
Main characteristics stratified by sarcopenia. Tumour number and size measured at pathology. Meld score, ALBI score and AFP are the last measurement prior to liver transplantation. Testing for SMI was omitted as it is different over the two groups by construction. AFP, alpha fetoprotein; BMI, body mass index; SMI, L3 skeletal muscle mass index; SMRA, mean skeletal muscle radiation attenuation; VAT, visceral adipose tissue area; SAT, subcutaneous adipose tissue area.