Acute Sarcopenia in Elderly with COVID-19: An Overlooked Problem

The coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic was announced in March 2020 by World Health Organization (WHO). Studies showed that the elderly had higher morbidity and mortality rates. Acute sarcopenia in the elderly with COVID-19 is an overlooked problem. Inflammation, malnutrition, immobilization, a side effect of COVID-19 treatment, depression, and hormonal dysregulation contributed to acute sarcopenia in COVID-19, especially in the elderly. Muscle quantity can be assessed with different techniques such as imaging or anthropometric measurements in diagnosing sarcopenia. Imaging such as CT scan was widely used in multiple studies. Still, anthropometric measurements are more fit in developing countries because they are widely available, safe, do not require special skills, and fit in low-resources facilities. Muscle strength can be assessed with grip strength. Acute sarcopenia was associated with immune dysregulation and cytokine storm, length of stay and readmission, and ICU admission and mechanical ventilation. These will contribute to high mortality in sarcopenic elderly with COVID-19.