Body composition predictors of outcome in patients with COVID-19

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a strong risk factor for adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, however, the distribution of fat and the amount of muscle mass are more accurate risk factors than BMI. The objective of this study was to assess body composition measures obtained on opportunistic abdominal CTs as predictors of outcome in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. We hypothesized that elevated visceral and intermuscular adipose tissue would be associated with adverse outcome. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Our retrospective study was IRB-approved and HIPAA-compliant. The study group comprised 124 patients (median age: 68 years, IQR: 56, 77; 59 weeks, 65 months) who were admitted with COVID-19 to a single hospital and who had undergone abdominal CT for clinical purposes. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT), and paraspinal and abdominal muscle cross-sectional areas (CSA) were assessed. Clinical information including prognostic factors, time of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and time of death within 28 days were obtained. Multivariate time-to-event competing risk models were fitted to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for a composite outcome of ICU admission/mortality associated with a one standard deviation increase in each body compositional measure. Each model was adjusted for age, sex, race, BMI, and cardiometabolic comorbidities. RESULTS: There were 50 patients who were admitted to the ICU or deceased over a median time of 1 day [IQR 1, 6] from hospital admission. Higher VAT/SAT ratio (HR of 1.30; 95% CI 1.04–1.62, p = 0.022) and higher IMAT CSA (HR of 1.44; 95% CI 1.10–1.89, p = 0.008) were associated with a reduced time to ICU admission or death in adjusted models. CONCLUSION: VAT/SAT and IMAT are predictors of adverse outcome in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, independent of other established prognostic factors. This suggests that body composition measures may serve as novel biomarkers of outcome in patients with COVID-19.