1. Usefulness of skeletal muscle ultrasound as a screening test for sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
- Author
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Yoshida, Takeshi, Inoue, Masataka, Kumon, Yoshitaka, Takamatsu, Naoko, Nozaki, Taiki, Albayda, Jemima, and Izumi, Yuishin
- Subjects
SARCOPENIA ,SKELETAL muscle ,MEDICAL screening ,ULTRASONIC imaging - Abstract
This article discusses the usefulness of skeletal muscle ultrasound as a screening test for sarcopenia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Sarcopenia is a muscle disorder that affects the aging population, particularly in Asian countries. The study used a cohort of female RA patients and found that the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the biceps brachii muscle showed the best diagnostic performance for sarcopenia. By incorporating the CSA of the biceps brachii and the health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI), the researchers created a prediction model for sarcopenia that demonstrated comparable sensitivity and specificity to the CSA alone. The study suggests that skeletal muscle ultrasound can be an effective tool for screening sarcopenia in RA patients and may help prevent muscle atrophy and functional decline. However, further research is needed to validate these findings and explore the impact of therapy on sarcopenia. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2024
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