Pilot Study on the Relationship between Malnutrition and Grip Strength with Prognosis in Diabetic Foot.

Sarcopenia and malnutrition have been associated in the elderly population with a poor prognosis in wound healing and with other adverse events, such as institutionalization or functional impairment. However, it is not known how these factors influence the prognosis of diabetic foot in the elderly. To answer this question, a prospective observational study of 45 patients over 65 years of age admitted with diagnoses of diabetic foot in a tertiary hospital has been conducted. All patients were assessed at admission and at 3 months after returning home to determine quality of life, pain, mobility and healing, overall hospital stay in relation to the presence of malnutrition (measured by BMI, CIPA scale and analytical parameters at admission of serum proteins and albumin), and sarcopenia measured by grip force, among other geriatric syndromes. The results found a relationship between altered sarcopenia and more pain and poorer quality of life, and altered BMI was related to a lower cure rate and worse mobility at follow-up. This study seems to indicate that, in the elderly population with diabetic foot, malnutrition and sarcopenia should be managed at the same time as the treatment of the diabetic foot itself.

Lower extremity weakness as the first sign of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Giant aortic aneurysms are rare entities with a high mortality, and only a few cases have been described. Spinal cord ischemia secondary to an aortic aneurysm occurs even more rarely. We present the case of a giant aneurysm of the infrarenal abdominal aorta that was initially manifested through bilateral lower limb weakness.