PD359 - CHARACTERISATION OF NUTRITIONAL INTAKE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SARCOPENIA IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS

PD359

CHARACTERISATION OF NUTRITIONAL INTAKE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SARCOPENIA IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS

I. Matias^1,*, S. Policarpo², H. Cortez-Pinto³, S. Carvalhana⁴

¹Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal, ²Laboratório de Nutrição, ³Clínica Universitária de Gastroenterologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, ⁴Serviço de Gastroenterologia, ULS Santa Maria, Lisboa, Portugal

Rationale: Liver cirrhosis (LC) predisposes patients to sarcopenia/malnutrition, associated with inadequate dietary intake. Poor nutritional status may worsen disease progression and contribute to decompensations.This study aims to evaluate the relationship between nutritional/functional status, previous decompensations and dietary intake in patients with compensated LC

Methods: Patients were assessed: nutritional status (RFH-NPT, RFH-GA, sarcopenia/malnutrition, grip strength), clinical history,  previous decompensations, and dietary intake (energy, protein, branched-chain amino acids-BCAAs) using a food frequency questionnaire.Nutritional requirements were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed for α=0.05

Results: From 73 patients: 72.6% male; mean age 65.8±9.1; 90.4% classified as Child-Pugh A and 9.6% as Child-Pugh B. The most frequent etiologies were alcohol-associated cirrhosis and metabolic associated steatotic liver disease. Previous decompensations occurred in 31.5% and 5.5% had history of hepatic encephalopathy. Sarcopenia was present in 12.3%, malnutrition in 20.5%, low grip strength in 27.9% and overweight/obesity in 78.1%. Most patients were classified as low nutritional risk (87.7%) and well-nourished (53.3%). Mean intake was 30.3±8.3 kcal/kg/day, 1.1±0.3 g protein/kg/day, and 0.18±0.006 g BCAA/kg/day. Most patients without sarcopenia (84.5%) or malnutrition (89.7%) did not meet protein/BCAA requirements. No significant associations were found between nutritional intake and grip strength/previous decompensations

Conclusion: The expected association between impaired nutritional status and inadequate intake was not observed, possibly due to the low prevalence of sarcopenia and malnutrition. Nevertheless, well-nourished patients frequently failed to meet nutritional requirements, reinforcing the importance of early nutritional counseling to prevent deterioration of nutritional status

Disclosure of Interest: None declared