Leader: Klara Komici (UNIMOL); Other collaborator(s):
This Task has focused on the combination of frailty assessments tools with laboratory test and or clinical and diagnostic elements of deficits related to aging itself as diagnostic imaging of muscle loss and sensory loss. Application of these models would reduce the gap in the correct identification of frailty and pre-frailty status and interventional strategies would be more helpful if applied in the conditions of vulnerability or pre-clinical frailty.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
For this task, currently we are proceeding with recruitment, measurement of physical capacity, execution of multidimensional assessment scales, and echographic and echocardiographic evaluation as planned and described in the project. Following the literature review, a narrative review paper has been submitted, which results under review: Komici K., Pansini A., Bencivenga L., Rengo G., Pagano G., Guerra G. "Frailty and Parkinson's Disease: the role of Diabetes Mellitus." Frontiers in Medicine, Geriatric Medicine Section, under review.
From an analysis of the current data, we have observed a significant and independent correlation between epicardial fat assessed by echocardiography and muscle strength measured by handgrip. These data were presented as an oral presentation at the congress: ""AHL NAPOLI 2023, Scaling Up Digital Solutions for Healthy Living: Implementing Across Scientific Disciplines, Industrial Sectors and Scenarios,"" Naples, November 13-14, 2023: ""The relationship between handgrip strength and epicardial fat in healthy adults."" Additionally, an original research article has been submitted: Komici K., Bencivenga L., Arganese C., Rengo G., Guerra G. ""The relationship between muscle strength and epicardial fat in healthy adults."" Experimental Gerontology, under review.
From a preliminary analysis of the current data, it appears that the evaluation of muscle thicknesses is able to predict age-related physical decline. This result has been accepted as an abstract for the Age It GM Congress in Venice, May 2024. Komici K., Brunese MC., Merolla F., Guerra G. ""The usefulness of imaging domain to identify elderly subjects with physical decline."
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The evaluation with echocardiography and muscle ultrasound can have a clinical utility in predicting frailty and its outcomes. The use of imaging techniques can allow clinicians to identify frail patients or patients at risk for frailty development. Furthermore, by monitoring imaging changes over time it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy and interventions aimed at reducing frailty and improving clinical outcomes.
We worked on the following topics:
Results have been published in two artices (see outputs)
We worked on the following topics:
OUTPUTS
Submitted:
Database construction and analysis of variables which reflect multi-dimentional characteristics of vulnerability and frailty are proceeding as planned. Our data indicate imaging domains and new respiratory features may be useful in the early detection of physical decline associated to ageing and vulnerability status.
OUTPUTS
Santulli G, Bencivenga L, Rengo G, Guerra G, Mone P, Komici K. Integrating epicardial fat and heart rate recovery in adults with metabolic risk factors. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2024 Nov 21:zwae380. doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwae380.
Conferences:
Congresso Nazionale Società Italiana della Medicina interna (SIMI) october 11-13 2024: THE IMPACT OF GFR ON SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE WITH PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION. (Delli Carpini G., Di Bartolomeo C., Dazzetti T., Martella L., Pedicino A., Giordano G., Rinaldi L, Mone P.; Komici K. ).
69 Congresso Nazionale della Societa Italiana di Gerontologia e Geriatria Firenze 11-14 Dicembre 2024 : L’UTILITÀ DELL’IMAGING DOMAIN PER IDENTIFICARE SOGGETTI ANZIANI CON DECLINO FISICO (K. Komici, M.C. Brunese, L. Bencivenga, G. Rengo, G. Guerra)
During this trimester, we are progressing on completing a database containing clinical data related to multidimensional characteristics of frailty. We have also tracked follow-up data regarding outcomes and performed additional statistical analyses on the study population.
OUTPUTS
Published:
Submitted:
Conference Presentations:
The project identified several important relationships between body composition, imaging parameters, and physical capacity:
Epicardial Fat and Muscle Strength: The research found an inverse and independent relationship between epicardial fat and muscle strength. This suggests that measuring handgrip strength (HGS) could help identify individuals with excessive epicardial fat and cardiovascular risk, while epicardial fat measurement could serve as an early detector of age-related physical decline.
Muscle Thickness and Strength: Using ultrasound to measure biceps brachii muscle thickness showed a significant positive correlation with handgrip strength in older adults. The study found that muscle thickness decreases parallel to aging in both sexes, indicating that non-invasive ultrasound evaluation could be valuable for early detection of age-related physical decline.
Lung Function and Muscle Strength: The research explored two complementary aspects of this relationship:
The project resulted in several published papers examining these relationships, including studies on:
The researchers plan to test the utility of these screening tools in follow-up studies examining outcomes like falls, hospitalizations, and cardiovascular events, with the goal of improving identification of frailty and pre-frailty states to enable more targeted interventional strategies.
OUTPUTS
Published:
Submitted:
Conference Presentations: