The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.
VC, C., HO, A., Z, G., E, M., H, O., A, S., K, O., E, K.D., IC, C., & Y, G. (2026). The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina62071246
VC C, HO A, Z G, E M, H O, A S, et al. The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 2026; doi: 10.3390/medicina62071246
VC C, HO A, Z G, et al. The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.[J]. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 2026. DOI: 10.3390/medicina62071246.
@article{vc2026,
author = {Cavdar VC and Arabaci HO and Guven Z and Meltem E and Ozkul H and Satilmisoglu A and Onay K and Kilic Dinler E and Ciftci IC and Gokmen Y},
title = {The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure.},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.3390/medicina62071246},
note = {PMID: 42512789},
}
TY - JOUR AU - Cavdar VC AU - Arabaci HO AU - Guven Z AU - Meltem E AU - Ozkul H AU - Satilmisoglu A AU - Onay K AU - Kilic Dinler E AU - Ciftci IC AU - Gokmen Y TI - The Prognostic Impact of the Cachexia Index in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure. T2 - Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) PY - 2026 DO - 10.3390/medicina62071246 AN - PMID:42512789 ER -
Background and Objectives: Cachexia is a systemic wasting syndrome associated with poor outcomes in chronic diseases, including heart failure (HF). Although the cachexia index (CXI), which integrates skeletal muscle mass, serum albumin, and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, has shown prognostic value in oncology, its clinical significance in HF remains poorly defined. Materials and Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study evaluated a selected subgroup of adults hospitalized with decompensated heart failure between January 2020 and January 2025 who had undergone abdominal computed tomography within the preceding 6 months, enabling CT-based body composition assessment. Skeletal muscle index was measured at the L3 vertebral level, and CXI was calculated as (SMI × serum albumin)/neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. Patients were followed for all-cause mortality and HF-related rehospitalizations. Results: A total of 127 patients were included (mean age 70.45 ± 12.73 years; 51.2% male). CXI showed excellent discrimination for mortality (AUC 0.951; 95% CI 0.905-0.996), with an optimal cut-off value of <20.87. Patients with low CXI had significantly higher all-cause mortality (80.5% vs. 4.7%, p < 0.001) and more HF-related hospitalizations [4 (3-5) vs. 0.5 (0-1), p < 0.001] than those with high CXI. Conclusions: In patients hospitalized with decompensated HF, low CXI was strongly associated with all-cause mortality and recurrent hospitalization, suggesting that CXI may serve as an integrative prognostic marker in this population.