REVIEW  PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE Free access

International Angiology 2020 February;39(1):50-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-9590.19.04248-2

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Prognostic review and time-to-event data meta-analysis of low skeletal muscle mass in patients with peripheral arterial disease of the lower limbs undergoing revascularization

Madeleine SHARPE ¹, Emeka OKOYE ¹, George A. ANTONIOU ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Manchester, UK; ² Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

INTRODUCTION: The relationship between low skeletal muscle mass, a surrogate of sarcopenia, and postoperative morbidity and mortality is currently being explored, with a hope to develop its role as a prognostic factor in preoperative risk stratification. Recent evidence suggests a link between low skeletal muscle mass and outcomes of lower limb revascularization in peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A review of the literature was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We performed a meta-analysis for peri-interventional mortality using the odds ratio (OR) and associated 95% confidence interval (CI). For late outcomes, we conducted a time-to-event data meta-analysis using the inverse-variance method and reported the result as summary hazard ratio (HR) and associated 95% CI. We applied the random-effects models of meta-analysis.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Six observational cohort studies were eligible for quantitative synthesis. In the outcome of peri-interventional mortality, we found no significant difference between patients with low skeletal muscle mass and those without (OR 1.84, 95% CI: 0.40-8.43, P=0.43). Meta-analysis of four studies found no significant difference in overall survival between patients with and without low skeletal muscle mass (HR 1.77, 95% CI: 0.58-5.39, P=0.32). Patients without low skeletal muscle mass were found to have a significantly longer amputation-free survival (HR 2.75, 95% CI: 1.82-4.15, P<0.00001), and a trend towards higher rates of limb salvage (HR 2.42, 95% CI: 0.87-6.80, P=0.09) than those with low skeletal muscle mass.
CONCLUSIONS: Low muscle mass is closely associated with worse disease progression following revascularization demonstrated through lower amputation-free survival and limb salvage. More research is needed to further evaluate its prognostic value in PAD.

KEY WORDS: Peripheral arterial disease; Sarcopenia; Skeletal muscle; Lower extremity; Ischemia