PD016 - FEMORAL MUSCLE ULTRASONOGRAPHY FOR DETECTION OF MUSCLE MASS AND SARCOPENIA. COMPARISON WITH MEASUREMENT BY GOLD STANDARD COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY.

PD016

FEMORAL MUSCLE ULTRASONOGRAPHY FOR DETECTION OF MUSCLE MASS AND SARCOPENIA. COMPARISON WITH MEASUREMENT BY GOLD STANDARD COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY.

K. Klimova^1,*, C. Padilla Suarez¹

¹University Hospitals Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Rationale: Measurement of skeletal muscle mass is essential for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. Computed tomography (CT) is considered a gold-standard method but is limited by cost, radiation exposure, and accessibility. Femoral muscle ultrasonography (US) has emerged as an alternative.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar and Cochrane databases was conducted from inception to 01/09/2025. Studies comparing femoral muscle US measurements with CT-derived muscle parameters in adult populations were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed study quality, see attached flowchart. (Prospero ID 1164556.)

Results: 22 studies involving 2269 participants were included; 8 studies were conducted in intensive care unit populations and only one included healthy population. Nine studies directly compared femoral muscle thickness measured by CT and US, the remaining 13 papers compared CT-derived lumbar (L3) skeletal muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) which is considered the gold standard for quantification of whole body muscle mass with US measurements of femoral muscle thickness or CSA. Precision of US in measuring femoral muscle thickness was close to that of CT scan. Femoral US measurements demonstrated moderate to strong associations with L3 CT muscle indices. Additional parameters (sex, weight, height) increased the precision of the US. Inter- and intra-observer reliability were generally high. However, heterogeneity existed in ultrasound protocols, anatomical landmarks, and cut-off levels, often established in subjects with significant co-morbidity instead of healthy population. 

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Conclusion: Femoral muscle US shows good agreement with CT for estimating whole body muscle mass. Standardisation of measurement protocols and validation of cut-off values in general healthy are required before widespread implementation.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared