Evaluation of sarcopenia in small-cell lung cancer patients by routine chest CT

Background Single cross-sectional area of muscle at the third lumbar vertebra (L3MA) is gold standard to estimate skeletal muscle mass (SMM), and L3 muscle index (L3MI, L3MA/height 2 ) is used to determine sarcopenia. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the relationship between SMM indices determined by routine chest CT and L3MI in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and to suggest chest CT-derived diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia. Methods Area of pectoralis muscles at the aortic arch (PMA) and at L1 (L1MA) was retrospectively measured on chest CT images of 90 consecutive SCLC patients. Pearson’s correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were used to assess relationships between L3MI determined by PET/CT and pectoralis muscle index (PMI) and L1 muscle index (L1MI) determined by chest CT. Results The correlation between L1MI and L3MI was stronger than that between PMI and L3MI ( r = 0.851 vs. r = 0.447, p