Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

The relationship of biceps brachii muscle cross-sectional area with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its severity

Amir-Reza Dalili¹, Milad Fadaei^1♦, Seyyed-Ali Alavi², Saeid Sadeghi Joni¹, Yasaman Soleimanmanesh³, Nazanin Soleimanmanesh³

¹Department of Radiology, Razi Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
²Inflammatory Lung Diseases Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Razi Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
³Student Research Committee, School of medicine, Guilan University of Medicine Sciences, Rasht, Iran

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Radiology, Razi Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran; Email: milad.fadai@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multi-dimensional disease and one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. In patients with COPD, extra-pulmonary effects of this disease such as muscle atrophy are often seen. This study performed to investigate relationship of biceps brachii muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and ıts severity. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 50 patients with COPD and 50 non-COPD outpatient subjects referred to Razi Hospital in Rasht (northern Iran) in 2018 were investigated. Basic demographic characteristics were recorded in checklist. The upper limb biceps brachii muscle CSA was measured by ultrasonography in all subjects. Intravenous use of steroids, severe acute exacerbation over the last year, dyspnea severity (mMRC dyspnea scale), FEV1 and FEV1 / FVC (% of predicted) (in Spirometry), the airflow limitation severity (GOLD criteria) in COPD patients were evaluated. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS-24. Results: The groups were matched for age, sex, BMI, smoking and occupation type (P > 0.05). Mean biceps brachii CSA in COPD group (388.106 ± 50.26 mm2) was significantly lower than the control group (465.90 ± 12.97 mm2). In linear regression analysis, COPD was the predictor affecting the muscle CSA. In COPD patients, muscle CSA was directly correlated with FEV1 (r = 0.589) and FEV1 / FVC (r = 0.396). There was an inverse correlation between the muscle CSA and the frequency of severe acute exacerbation (r = -0.380). No significant difference was found between the groups based on mMRC dyspnea scale in terms of the mean biceps brachii CSA (P = 0.070). However, this difference was significant between the groups of GOLD2 (448.01 ± 12.42 mm2), GOLD3 (420.91 ± 0.72 mm2), and GOLD4 (281.57 ± 54.60 mm2) (P < 0.001). In linear regression analysis, patient's age and GOLD criteria (airflow limitation severity) were the predictive factors affecting the muscle CSA in COPD patients. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects the biceps brachii muscle of the upper limbs and leads to a decrease in muscle CSA.

Keywords: Biceps Brachii Muscle, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Severity

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 3590-3601

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