Muscle Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Assessing Sarcopenia in Parkinson's Disease.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of muscle ultrasonography (US) as a diagnostic tool for assessing sarcopenia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), addressing the challenge of early detection to prevent falls and enhance quality of life.

Materials & methods: This prospective single-center study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of US for identifying sarcopenia, using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria as the reference. A total of 85 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were recruited between June 2022 and August 2024, comprising 31 individuals in the sarcopenic group and 54 in the non-sarcopenia group. We compared muscle thickness (MT), cross-sectional area (CSA), and shear wave velocity of the rectus femoris (RF), anterior tibialis (AT), and biceps brachii (BB) between the two groups. Statistical analyses included univariate analysis, correlation analysis, and binary logistic regression to develop a prediction model for sarcopenia.

Results: The sarcopenia group exhibited lower MTBB, MTAT, and CSAAT compared to the non-sarcopenia group (all p < 0.05). MTBB, CSABB, and CSAAT were significantly correlated with the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index and functional measures (all p < 0.05). The prediction model, which included age, BMI, and MTBB as predictors, achieved an area under the curve of 0.857 (95% CI: 0.782, 0.932; p < 0.001) with a sensitivity of 80.6% and specificity of 79.6%.

Conclusion: US is a reliable and effective diagnostic tool for assessing sarcopenia in patients with PD, providing a practical approach for early identification of this condition.