Predictors of Sarcopenia in Outpatients with Post-Critical SARS-CoV2 Disease. Nutritional Ultrasound of Rectus Femoris Muscle, a Potential Tool.

Background and Objectives: The loss of muscle mass in post-critical COVID-19 outpatients is difficult to assess due to the limitations of techniques and the high prevalence of obesity. Ultrasound is an emerging technique for evaluating body composition. The aim is to evaluate sarcopenia and its risk factors, determining ultrasound usefulness as a potential tool for this purpose according to established techniques, such as the bioimpedance vector analysis (BIVA), handgrip strength, and timed up-and-go test. Methods: This is a transversal study of 30 post-critical COVID-19 outpatients. We evaluated nutritional status by ultrasound (Rectus Femoris-cross-sectional-area (RF-CSA), thickness, and subcutaneous-adipose-tissue), BIVA, handgrip strength, timed up-and-go test, and clinical variables during admission. Results: According to The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (ESPEN&EASO) Consensus for Sarcopenic and Obesity, in terms of excess fat mass and decreased lean mass, the prevalence of class-1 sarcopenic obesity was 23.4% (n = 7), and class-2 sarcopenic obesity was 33.3% (n = 10) in our study. A total of 46.7% (n = 14) of patients had a handgrip strength below the 10th percentile, and 30% (n = 9) achieved a time greater than 10s in the timed up-and-go test. There were strong correlations between the different techniques that evaluated the morphological (BIVA, Ultrasound) and functional measurements of muscle. Intensive care unit stay, mechanical ventilation, and age all conditioned the presence of sarcopenia in COVID-19 outpatients (R2 = 0.488, p = 0.002). Predictive models for sarcopenic diagnosis based on a skeletal muscle index estimation were established by RF-CSA (R2 0.792, standard error of estimate (SEE) 1.10, p < 0.001), muscle-thickness (R2 0.774, SEE 1.14, p < 0.001), and handgrip strength (R2 0.856, SEE 0.92, p < 0.001). RF-CSA/weight of 5.3 cm2/kg × 100 was the cut-off value for predicting sarcopenia in post-critical COVID-19 outpatients, with 88.2 sensitivity and 69.2% specificity. Conclusion: More than half of the post-critical COVID-19 survivors had sarcopenic obesity and functional impairment of handgrip strength. Intensive care unit stay, age, and mechanical ventilation all predict sarcopenia. An ultrasound, when applied to the assessment of body composition in post-critical COVID-19 patients, provided the possibility of assessing sarcopenia in this population.

Microcalcificaciones en ausencia de nódulo tiroideo identificable por ecografía y su asociación a cáncer de tiroides: a propósito de un caso / Microcalcifications in the absence of identifiable thyroid nodule on sonography and its association with thyroid carcinoma: a case report

La ecografía tiroidea es la principal herramienta diagnóstica en el manejo de los nódulos tiroideos, siendo la presencia de microcalcificaciones un signo de malignidad. Sin embargo, existen escasas publicaciones acerca de la presencia de microcalcificaciones en ausencia de nódulo identificable y su asociación con cáncer de tiroides. Presentamos un caso de una mujer de 26 años, que, tras hallazgo incidental de bocio, se describe en ecografía un tiroides con alteración difusa de su ecogenicidad e imágenes compatibles con microcalcificaciones sin claro nódulo definido en su polo inferior. Tras realización de punción aspiración con aguja fina de la lesión con resultado Bethesda categoría 5, se decide realizar tiroidectomía total, presentando estudio histológico con diagnóstico de carcinoma papilar de tiroides variante clásica con metástasis ganglionares p(T1bN1a). Tras una revisión sistemática, los estudios hasta hoy publicados sugieren que la presencia de microcalcificaciones aisladas sin nódulo identificable debe considerarse un importante factor de riesgo de cáncer de tiroides, especialmente en gente joven, y en aquellas asentadas sobre una tiroiditis de Hashimoto. Por ende, resulta imperativo mantener una alta sospecha ante el hallazgo de este tipo de lesiones, recomendando una valoración exhaustiva de las mismas con la realización de una punción aspiración con aguja fina a todas las lesiones con dichas características.

Thyroid ultrasound is the main diagnostic tool in the management of thyroid nodules, with the presence of microcalcifications being a sign of malignancy. However, there are few publications about the presence of microcalcifications in the absence of an identifiable nodule and its association with thyroid cancer. We present a case of a 26-year-old woman who, after an incidental finding of goiter, a thyroid with diffuse echogenicity alteration and images compatible with microcalcifications without a clear nodule defined in the lower pole of the lobe is described on the ultrasound. After performing a fine needle aspiration of the lesion resulting in a Bethesda category 5, a total thyroidectomy was performed, presenting in the histological study a diagnosis of a classic variant of a papillary thyroid carcinoma with lymph node metastases p (T1bN1a). After a systematic review, the studies previously published suggest that the presence of isolated microcalcifications without an identifiable nodule should be considered an important risk factor for thyroid cancer, especially in young people, and in those with a concomitant Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Therefore, it is imperative to maintain a high suspicion of the discovery of this type of lesion, recommending an exhaustive assessment of them with the performance of a fine needle aspiration to all lesions with these features.