Sarcopenic obesity is significantly associated with poorer overall survival after liver transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Huang, H. B., et al.Frontiers in Nutrition 2024; 11: 1387602.
Aims
The aim of this study was to investigate the association of sarcopenic obesity and overall survival in liver transplant recipients.
Interventions
Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Cochrane databases were searched for relevant literature. Eligible studies were screened and data were extracted independently by two authors. The Risk Of Bias In Non-randomized Studies - of Exposure (ROBINS-E) was used to assess the quality of the included studies.
Participants
9 studies were included in the review.
Outcomes
The main outcome was all-cause mortality.
Follow-up
N/A
CET Conclusions
Sarcopenia is known to worsen survival after liver transplantation. The association with obesity, so-called sarcopenic obesity (SO), is theorised to synergistically worsen outcomes and increase rates of adverse events. This meta-analysis synthesised the available data which examines the effect of SO on outcomes in patients who undergo liver transplantation. Nine cohort studies comprising 2416 patients were included in the analysis. The pooled results suggested a significantly worse overall survival in patients with SO. This result is not unexpected but, with the high rate of heterogeneity between the included studies in defining SO, the analysis could not provide finer detail on the level of severity of SO which predicts poor outcomes. Thus, no new insights are provided and the clinical utility of the study is negated as the results could not be used to guide patient selection or counselling for liver transplantation.
Trial registration
N/A