Muscle Fat Infiltration in Patients with Multiple Myeloma: A Case–Control Study

Tianshu Zhu,1,* Hao Zhou,2,* Dingzhe Zhang,2 Xiao Chen,2 Xuzhang Lu1 1Department of Hematology, the Second People’s Hospital of Changzhou, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiao Chen, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Xuzhang Lu, Department of Hematology, the Second People’s Hospital of Changzhou, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Sarcopenia in patients with hematologic malignancies has gained attention. However, muscle fat infiltration in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has not been well studied. In this study, we showed the prevalence of computed tomography (CT)-based muscle fat infiltration in newly diagnosed MM patients.Methods: A total of 966 participants, 138 MM patients and 828 controls, who underwent CT examinations were involved in this study. Clinical parameters, such as participants’ age, sex, weight, height and laboratory test results, such as serum lipids, liver and renal function, were collected. The CT radiation attenuation of the bilateral erector spinae (ESRA) muscles and cross-sectional axial skeletal muscle (SMRA) at the medium level of the T11 vertebra were measured on axial CT images. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between MM and the risk of low muscle CT attenuation. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to show the performance of muscle CT attenuation in identifying MM.Results: Muscle CT attenuation in the MM group was significantly lower than in controls (p