Muscle Multi-parametric NMR Imaging Development in Aged People With Sarcopenia or Frailty Syndrome; CLINical Study

Frailty concept has been created to screen the older people at risk for dependency and to propose preventive intervention. Muscle function is at the centre of the concept and the majority of interventions proposed to reverse or to prevent frailty have targeted physical function. Anatomical and functional alteration of muscle, called sarcopenia is defined as a low skeletal muscle mass, a decrease in strength (dynapenia or sarcopenia is the age-associated loss of muscle strength that is not caused by neurologic or muscular diseases) and functional consequences such as low gait speed. Qualitative analysis should be associated with quantitative (mass) analysis in older subjects assessed for frailty. Muscle architecture, lipid and active tissue muscle content should be measured. Proton NMR imaging (MRI) can be used for this purpose. Brain changes were also reported to be associated with frailty. The study of structural changes associated with brain MRI alterations may better explain the frailty process.

Robust, frail and pre-frail subjects will be compared for clinical and MRI data. Grey matter volumes, white matter hyperintensities, diffusion tensor imaging data and muscle assessments relationships will be described After baseline assessment follow-up will be performed by phone calls after one month and after six months to record the number of falls and severity, the number of unscheduled hospitalization, the admission in institution for older people and death.