Sarcopenia diagnosed by ultrasound-assessed quadriceps muscle thickness and handgrip strength predicts mortality in patients on hemodialysis.

When combined with low handgrip strength, low quadriceps muscle US outperformed low lean tissue index as assessed by bioimpedance spectroscopy in predicting mortality in a cohort of patients on maintenance HD. Ultrasound may be a useful and convenient technique for the assessment of sarcopenia and protein-energy wasting in this patient population.