This is the first study demonstrating persistent sarcopenia associated with poorer growth and recurrent hospitalization in children post-LTx.

Background Malnutrition is a common complication in children with chronic diseases. Sarcopenia is one component of malnutrition, characterized by reduced skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and muscle function. The presence of sarcopenia is associated with adverse outcomes in children. Although there is growing research interest in sarcopenia, no review has been done on this novel concept in pediatrics. The purpose of this review was to explore current evidence in sarcopenia with and without obesity and to evaluate the knowledge gaps in the assessment of childhood sarcopenia. Methods A total of 12 articles retrieved from PubMed or Web of Science databases were included. Results Limited studies have elucidated sarcopenia in pediatrics. Challenges in sarcopenia assessment include heterogeneity in definition and absence of standardized body composition methods used to measure SMM and muscle function tests. There is a lack of age‐specific and gender‐specific normative data for SMM, particularly in young children and infants. None of the studies incorporated muscle function assessment, causing potential bias and misclassification of sarcopenia. The research in childhood sarcopenia is also hampered by low study quality, limited number of outcomes‐based research, and lack of longitudinal data. Conclusion Consensus needs to be reached in methodological approaches in sarcopenia diagnosis, body composition measurements, and age‐appropriate muscle function tests in pediatrics. Careful considerations on growth, neurocognitive status, and factors influencing development in various clinical populations are warranted. Early identification of sarcopenia is crucial to enable targeted treatment and prevention to be carried out across the pediatric clinical populations.

Malnutrition is a common complication in patients with end‐stage liver disease (ESLD) awaiting liver transplantation (LT). Malnutrition and sarcopenia overlap in etiology and outcomes, with sarcopenia being defined as reduced skeletal muscle mass and muscle function. The purpose of this review was to identify the prevalence of sarcopenia with and without obesity in adults and children with ESLD and to assess the methodological considerations in sarcopenia diagnosis and the association of sarcopenia with pre‐ and post‐LT outcomes. A total of 38 articles (35 adult and 3 pediatric articles) retrieved from PubMed or Web of Science databases were included. In adults, the prevalence rates of pre‐LT sarcopenia, pre‐LT sarcopenic obesity (SO), post‐LT sarcopenia, and post‐LT SO were 14%‐78%, 2%‐42%, 30%‐100%, and 88%, respectively. Only 2 adult studies assessed muscle function in patients diagnosed with sarcopenia. The presence of pre‐LT sarcopenia is associated with higher wait‐list mortality, greater postoperative mortality, higher infection risk and postoperative complications, longer intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and ventilator dependency. The emerging pediatric data suggest that sarcopenia is prevalent in pre‐ and post‐LT periods. In 1 pediatric study, sarcopenia was associated with poor growth, longer perioperative length of stay (total/ICU) and ventilator dependency, and increased rehospitalization in children after LT. In conclusion, there is a high prevalence of sarcopenia in adults and children with ESLD. Sarcopenia is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The present review is limited by heterogeneity in the definition of sarcopenia and in the methodological approaches in assessing sarcopenia. Future studies are needed to standardize the sarcopenia diagnosis and muscle function assessment, particularly in the pediatric population, to enable early identification and treatment of sarcopenia in adults and children with ESLD.

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