The relationship between sarcopenia and early mortality in patients admitted to the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit

"The Relationship Between Sarcopenia and Early Mortality in Patients Admitted to the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit." Specialization Thesis, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, 2025. The aim of our study is to investigate the frequency of sarcopenia, which has been determined using objective criteria, and the relationship between existing sarcopenia and early mortality in patients admitted to the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit. Due to the presence of comorbidities such as increased inflammation, malnutrition, and multiple organ failure in intensive care patients, the frequency of sarcopenia is higher. In our study, a total of 410 patients who were admitted to the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit of Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between 01.04.2022 and 01.04.2023, and whose psoas muscle area could be calculated from abdominal tomography and masseter muscle area could be assessed with cranial tomography, were included.We observed that 71.8% of the patients in our intensive care unit had sarcopenia, a significant proportion. The serum albumin and hemoglobin levels, as well as the prognostic nutritional indices, were lower in sarcopenic patients compared to those without sarcopenia. On the other hand, inflammatory markers such as CRP and procalcitonin were higher in the sarcopenic group. We also found that the mortality rate within the first 28 days was significantly higher in sarcopenic patients compared to those without sarcopenia. In the sarcopenic patient group, the risk of early mortality was found to be 2.34 times higher compared to the non-sarcopenic group.In conclusion, sarcopenia is a common and significant factor that increases early mortality in patients in the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit. It is possible to use muscle mass measurements, which we know to be objective in diagnosing sarcopenia, in current clinical practice. Both the psoas muscle area and the masseter muscle area can be used to detect the presence of sarcopenia, and it can be said that their clinical prognostic value is similar in our patient population. Key Words: sarcopenia, muscle mass, intensive care, mortality