ULTRASOUND OF QUADRICEPS FEMORIS AS A RULE-OUT TOOL FOR MALNUTRITION SCREENING IN HEART FAILURE CLINICS
- 1Acoeurlab Research Unit - Research Center of the Hospital of Montreal University (CRCHUM), Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Acoeurlab Research Unit; Research Institute
Abstract
AimsTo assess reproducibility and repeatability of quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM) thickness measured by 2D ultrasound (US) and evaluate its potential as a tool to detect risk of malnutrition in heart failure (HF) outpatients.
MethodsThirty HF participants (malnourished n=16; well-nourished n=14) were recruited. Malnutrition was assessed using the GLIM tool (reference method). QFM thickness was measured at two points (mid-point and 2/3-point). We conducted paired T-tests to assess differences in QFM thickness according to leg side (left vs. right), condition of measure (with vs. without probe pressure), inter- and intra-operators. Intraclass coefficients (ICC) were used to test intra- and inter-operator agreement.
ResultsAnalyses showed no differences for most comparisons (total of 48). The midpoint was different in 4 comparisons, 2/3 point for none. ICC analyses ranged from 0.943 to 0.996 for intra- and inter-operator analyses. The best result from the ROC analyses was for the 2/3 QFM point with no probe pressure (AUC 0.74), with a specificity of 43% and sensitivity of 100%.
ConclusionOur preliminary results suggest that 2D - US QFM thickness, measured at the two-thirds point without pressure, is a reproducible and repeatable measurement. QFM thickness also showed good ability to differentiate between nutritional statuses and to rule out malnutrition (high sensitivity). These findings indicate it as a practical initial screening tool for identifying patients who do not need further investigation. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in a larger sample of patients.
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BibTeX
@misc{ribeiro2026ultrasound,
title = {{ULTRASOUND OF QUADRICEPS FEMORIS AS A RULE-OUT TOOL FOR MALNUTRITION SCREENING IN HEART FAILURE CLINICS}},
author = {P. A B Ribeiro and P. Zuchinalli and Z. Carrier and O. Nguyen and A.-S. Zenses and G. Corra Souza and F. Tournoux},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.02.26362047},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26362047v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - ULTRASOUND OF QUADRICEPS FEMORIS AS A RULE-OUT TOOL FOR MALNUTRITION SCREENING IN HEART FAILURE CLINICS
AU - P. A B Ribeiro
AU - P. Zuchinalli
AU - Z. Carrier
AU - O. Nguyen
AU - A.-S. Zenses
AU - G. Corra Souza
AU - F. Tournoux
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.02.26362047
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26362047v1
AB - AimsTo assess reproducibility and repeatability of quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM) thickness measured by 2D ultrasound (US) and evaluate its potential as a tool to detect risk of malnutrition in heart failure (HF) outpatients. MethodsThirty HF participants (malnourished n=16; well-nourished n=14) were recruited. Malnutrition was assessed using the GLIM tool (reference method). QFM thickness was measured at two points (mid-point and 2/3-point). We conducted paired T-tests to assess differences in QFM thickness according to leg side (left vs. right), condition of measure (with vs. without probe pressure), inter- and intra-operators. Intraclass coefficients (ICC) were used to test intra- and inter-operator agreement. ResultsAnalyses showed no differences for most comparisons (total of 48). The midpoint was different in 4 comparisons, 2/3 point for none. ICC analyses ranged from 0.943 to 0.996 for intra- and inter-operator analyses. The best result from the ROC analyses was for the 2/3 QFM point with no probe pressure (AUC 0.74), with a specificity of 43% and sensitivity of 100%. ConclusionOur preliminary results suggest that 2D - US QFM thickness, measured at the two-thirds point without pressure, is a reproducible and repeatable measurement. QFM thickness also showed good ability to differentiate between nutritional statuses and to rule out malnutrition (high sensitivity). These findings indicate it as a practical initial screening tool for identifying patients who do not need further investigation. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in a larger sample of patients.
ER -