studies

HEPATOLOGY, VOLUME 62, NUMBER 1 (SUPPL) AASLD ABSTRACTS 927A
reports. Methods: Adult liver transplant candidates listed in
2012 with an abdominal CT scan within 3 months of listing
were included. Our 4 centers executed a data use agreement
and agreed on common definitions of clinical variables, key
parameters to measure muscle mass, and outcomes. Abdominal
skeletal muscle area was measured as the sum of cross-sectional
areas of psoas, paraspinal, and abdominal wall muscles
at L3, normalized for height (SMI, cm 2 /m 2 ). Associations
between SMI and baseline characteristics were evaluated
by Pearsons correlations, Wilcoxon, or Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Adjusted competing risks analysis evaluated association of SMI
with death/delisting for being too sick for LT. Results: Included
were 224 subjects: 25% female, 54% non-Hispanic White,
54% HCV, 14% ETOH, 11% NASH, 46% HCC, median age
59y, median BMI 28. Disease-related characteristics: median
MELD 14, median albumin 3.1, 49% with ascites. Median
(IQR) total abdominal skeletal muscle index was 46 cm 2 /m 2
(36-55). SMI had low correlation with MELD (r=-0.27;p