Impact of sarcopenia and obesity on mortality in older adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection: automated deep learning body composition analysis in the NAPKON-SUEP cohort.

Journal: Infection
Published Date: May 16, 2025

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Severe respiratory infections pose a major challenge in clinical practice, especially in older adults. Body composition analysis could play a crucial role in risk assessment and therapeutic decision-making. This study investigates whether obesity or sarcopenia has a greater impact on mortality in patients with severe respiratory infections. The study focuses on the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON-SUEP) cohort, which includes patients over 60 years of age with confirmed severe COVID-19 pneumonia. An innovative approach was adopted, using pre-trained deep learning models for automated analysis of body composition based on routine thoracic CT scans.

Authors

  • Sabine Schluessel
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. Sabine.Schluessel@med.uni-muenchen.de.
  • Benedikt Mueller
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Olivia Tausendfreund
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Michaela Rippl
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Linda Deissler
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Sebastian Martini
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Ralf Schmidmaier
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Sophia Stoecklein
    Department of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. Sophia.Stoecklein@med.uni-muenchen.de.
  • Michael Ingrisch
    Department of Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany.
  • Sabine Blaschke
    Central Emergency Department, University Medicine Göttingen, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Gunnar Brandhorst
    University Medicine Oldenburg, University Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Oldenburg, Germany.
  • Peter Spieth
    Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
  • Kristin Lehnert
    Department of Internal Medicine B, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
  • Peter Heuschmann
    Institute of Medical Data Science, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
  • Susana M Nunes de Miranda
    Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Digital Medicine and Clinical Data Science, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Michael Drey
    Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.

Keywords

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