Muscle mass versus muscle strength and performance: Is muscle mass measurement alone enough?
In the world of advanced liver disease, no person can deny the loss of physical function that occurs to patients with cirrhosis. As the disease progresses, the physical manifestations of muscle mass loss and reduced physical function are apparent. Providers, patients, and caregivers to patients know this all too well. Unfortunately, however, this highly devastating physical manifestation is evaluated in a subjective manner at the current time. At best these assessments are inaccurate, at worse unequitable. Whether in the research or clinical settings, sarcopenia and frailty may be useful biomarkers to study reduction in physical function and worsened outcomes in patients awaiting liver transplantation. Each is linked to morbidity and mortality and is useful in different clinical scenarios. Here, we examine more closely the similarities and differences between sarcopenia and frailty.