Sarcopenia Influences Clinical Outcome in Hospitalized Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease Aged 75 Years and Older

Sarcopenia represents a relevant comorbidity in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, only few studies exist assessing the clinical burden of sarcopenia in PAD. All hospitalizations of patients aged ≥75 years who were admitted due to PAD within 2005–2020 in Germany were included in the study and stratified for sarcopenia. Temporal trends and the impact of sarcopenia on treatment procedures as well as adverse in-hospital events were investigated. Overall, 1,166,848 hospitalization cases of patients admitted due to PAD (median age 81.0 [78.0–85.0] years; 49.5% female sex) were included, of which 2,109 (0.2%) were coded with sarcopenia. Prevalence of sarcopenia in these patients increased during the observational period from 0.05% in 2005 to 0.34% in 2020 (β 2.61 [95%CI 2.42–2.80], P