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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 21, 2015; 21(39): 10982-10993
Published online Oct 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i39.10982
Published online Oct 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i39.10982
Sarcopenia and liver transplant: The relevance of too little muscle mass
Eric R Kallwitz, Loyola University, Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, United States
Author contributions: Kallwitz ER is entirely responsible for the drafting, editing and final version of this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Kallwitz ER has no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Eric R Kallwitz, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Loyola University, Chicago, 2160 S First Ave, Maywood, IL 60153, United States. ekallwitz@lumc.edu
Telephone: +1-708-2162538 Fax: +1-708-2166299
Received: April 28, 2015
Peer-review started: May 5, 2015
First decision: June 23, 2015
Revised: July 9, 2015
Accepted: September 13, 2015
Article in press: September 13, 2015
Published online: October 21, 2015
Peer-review started: May 5, 2015
First decision: June 23, 2015
Revised: July 9, 2015
Accepted: September 13, 2015
Article in press: September 13, 2015
Published online: October 21, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: The loss of skeletal muscle mass, termed sarcopenia, is common in the setting of cirrhosis and liver transplant. Before liver transplant, it has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The long term effect of sarcopenia upon morbidity and mortality after transplant has been less rigorously studied. Data linking sarcopenia to adverse outcomes such as diabetes in the non-transplant setting are of interest especially with the high prevalence of post transplant metabolic syndrome. Current research on sarcopenia is limited by heterogeneity in the method to measure muscle mass and varied definitions of sarcopenia.