The optimal imaging diagnostic method of sarcopenia in liver transplantation: an unresolved issue

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage of multiple liver diseases with a high morbidity and mortality. Complications related to cirrhosis, including variceal bleeding, ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and hepatic encephalopathy, have been widely recognized (1-3). However, malnutrition, another common complication, has not been fully recognized in clinical practice. Indeed, classical prognostic models, such as Child-Turcotte-Pugh and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), are lacking an objective assessment of malnutrition in cirrhotic patients (4-6).