Slice-O Matic Experiment

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Background and aim : Skeletal muscle is reduced in various chronic disease states resulting in sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is an objective and measurable clinical marker for malnutrition. Slice-O- Matic has been used to measure skeletal muscle from computed tomography (CT) images. However, it is expensive and not easily available. In this study, we measure skeletal muscle mass from CT images using Adobe Photoshop and compare it to Slice-O-Matic in order to realiably validate a novel and more cost-effective alternative.
Methods : Fifty patients with abdominal CT scans were chosen from a database of liver cirrhosis patients. Given its significance in malnutrition, the image slice at the L4- L5 inter-vertebral space was selected. The skeletal muscles at this level (erector spinae, psoas major, rectus abdominus, quadratus lumborum and external and internal oblique muscles) were highlighted and selected using both Slice-O-Matic and Adobe Photoshop. The skeletal muscle area was then calculated using both softwares by two independent observers and the results were compared.
Results : There was excellent agreement between skeletal muscle area measured by Adobe Photoshop and Slice-O-Matic (Observer 1: r = 0.964, p< 0.01. Further testing …show more content…

All patients had recent abdominal CT scans. Four to five contiguous transverse image slices obtained at 1 cm intervals between the level of the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae were obtained after carefully counting down from the twelfth rib and the image with clearest delineation of both the skeletal muscles and the spinous processes of L5 vertebrae were chosen for image analysis. Sample size was calculated according to a power (1-β) at 95 % confidence intervals with less than 1% Type 1

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