Reliability and Diagnostic Accuracy of EOS Full-Body Upright Imaging for Sarcopenia: A Retrospective Study Comparing Thigh Muscle to CT-Derived Psoas Muscle Measurements.

BACKGROUND

Sarcopenia increases postoperative complication and mortality rates in elderly patients. Although measurement of the psoas muscle area on computed tomography (CT) scans is traditionally used to diagnose sarcopenia, CT is not routine in orthopaedic practice and causes unnecessary radiation exposure. EOS, a low-dose full-body imaging modality, captures musculoskeletal structures in an upright position, offering an alternative for sarcopenia diagnosis.

METHODS

Patients ≥18 years of age were included in this retrospective study if they had undergone non-contrast CT spine and EOS imaging between May 2022 and May 2024. Psoas muscle measurements at L3 and L4 were made using non-contrast CT scans, while thigh muscle measurements were obtained with EOS imaging. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Predicted probabilities for L4-psoas sarcopenia were determined through logistic regression, controlling for demographic covariates and validated with an 80% to 20% train-validate split. Sarcopenia cutoffs for anteroposterior (AP) thigh thickness and lateral (LAT) quadriceps thickness were determined with use of the Youden index.

RESULTS

Sarcopenia was identified in 23.1% of 134 patients (85 female and 49 male; 121 White, 7 Black, and 6 Hispanic) on the basis of L4-psoas muscle index thresholds. EOS and CT measurements showed excellent ICCs (≥0.90). Multivariable regressions identified AP thigh thickness and LAT quadriceps thickness as significant predictors of psoas area and L4-psoas sarcopenia. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for identifying L4-psoas sarcopenia was 0.85 for AP thigh thickness and 0.77 for LAT quadriceps thickness. Cutoffs were 12.47 cm (males) and 10.68 cm (females) for AP thigh thickness, and 3.23 cm (males) and 2.20 cm (females) for LAT quadriceps thickness. In the validation cohort of 27 patients, the AP thigh thickness model showed 0.94 sensitivity and 0.89 specificity, while the LAT quadriceps thickness model showed 0.70 sensitivity and 1.00 specificity. Applying these cutoffs to the entire data set showed that 66.7% of males and 75.0% of females with measurements below both cutoffs had sarcopenia.

CONCLUSIONS

EOS is a reliable alternative to CT for muscle mass assessment and sarcopenia diagnosis. EOS may be a valuable tool for assessing sarcopenia without a CT scan, as thigh muscle measurements via EOS correlate well with CT-derived psoas measurements. This imaging modality aids in early sarcopenia diagnosis, potentially enhancing preoperative planning and reducing radiation exposure, unnecessary costs, and resource utilization.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III . See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.