Evaluation of Sarcopenia by Psoas Muscle Measurements in Osteoporotic Patients with Vertebral Compression Fracture.

Objective: To examine the effect of sarcopenia on osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture with psoas muscle measurements.

Study design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Radiology, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkiye, from January 2020 to March 2023.

Methodology: Measurements evaluating psoas muscle area (PMA), psoas muscle index (PMI), and psoas muscle density (PMD) were made at L2 vertebral corpus level for the diagnosis of sarcopenia from muscle mass with computed tomography (CT). The association between sarcopenia and osteoporotic compression fracture was examined with significance at p <0.05.

Results: Osteoporotic patients with 37 compression fractures and 37 without compression fractures were examined. PMA and PMI were statistically significantly lower in the study group (p <0.01). PMD was also found to be statistically significantly lower in the study group (p <0.05). Diagnostic performance (DP) was good for the discrimination of patients and control groups for psoas area (AUC = 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.807 - 0.956 and PMI (AUC = 0.83; 95% CI 0.734 - 0.917. It was poor for psoas density (AUC = 0.66, 95% CI 0.531 - 0.782).

Conclusion: Sarcopenia is an important risk factor for osteoporotic compression fracture. Psoas measurements show a significant association with osteoporosis and vertebral fracture and can be easily determined on CT scan.

Key words: Sarcopenia, Osteoporotic compression fracture, Psoas muscle.