The Correlation of Muscle Mass and Walking Distance with Joint Health and Functional Status in Hemophilic Arthropathy Among People with Hemophilia a (PwHA)

Introduction: Hemophilic arthropathy resulting from repeat joint bleeding is a common complication for people with hemophilia (PWH), despite the current prophylaxis therapy. Monitoring the status of musculoskeletal health for PWH is necessary. Muscle plays a critical role in maintaining and promoting the joint health. Muscle atrophy is one of the key features of haemophilic arthropathy. Up to date, there are more studies focusing on joint health of PWH but few having attention on the impact of limbs muscles on joint status of PWH. Clinical assessments such as muscle circumference and manual muscle strength tests fail to detect subtle muscle changes. The study aimed to evaluate the ultrasound measurement of muscle thickness in people with hemophilia A (PwHA) and its correlation to joint health and functional impairments.

Methods and Materials: In the observational cross-sectional study, 29 PwHA (median age 35 years; range 13–63) were enrolled, including 27 severe-type diseases on prophylaxis therapy and 2 moderate-type diseases on episodic treatment. Muscle thickness of quadriceps and medial gastrocnemius were measured by ultrasound. Joint health and functional capacity were assessed using Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS), Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound (HEAD-US), Haemophilia Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adults (Haemo-A-QoL), and Haemophilia Activities List (HAL). 6-Minute Walking Test (6MWT) for global functional evaluation.

Results: At the time when the 29 patients receiving this survey of joint health, there were 28 on rFVIIIFc treatment for an average of 31.2 months (mean: 33.5, range 19.5－43), among whom 26 severe-type patients had rFVIIIFc prophylaxis and 2 moderate-type patients had on-demand therapy with rFVIIIFc. Only one severe-type patient had received non-rFVIIFc product prophylaxis for > 3 years. Totally 174 joints were examined. By correlation analysis, a significant correlation was found between both quadriceps and calf muscle thickness and the HJHS knee and ankle scores, respectively, with a negative correlation (r= -0.45, p=0.015*, right quadriceps; r= -0.60, p<0.001***, left quadriceps; r= -0.39, p=0.039*, right calf; r= -0.58, p<0.001***, left calf). A significant correlation between muscle thickness and HEAD-US was observed between quadriceps muscle and knee score, with a negative correlation (r= -0.56, p=0.017*, right quadriceps; r= -0.36, p=0.0048**, left quadriceps). Therefore, Quadriceps muscle thickness significantly correlated with HJHS knee, HEAD-US knee, and HAL. Calf muscle thickness significantly correlated with the HJHS ankle. After adjusted age and BMI, calf muscle thickness was significantly associated with the HJHS ankle. Muscle thickness was also observed to correlate with Haem-A-QoL and HAL. 6MWT was found to significantly correlated with HJHS total, HEAD-US total, Haem-A-QoL, and HAL (r= -0.42, p=0.0231*, HJHS; r= -0.52, p=0.0037**, HEAD-US; r= -0.60, p<0.0001***, Haem-A-QoL; r= 0.64, p<0.001***, HAL).

Conclusion: For the first time, limbs muscle thickness and the distance of 6MWT were linked to assessment of joint health, quality of life and activity participation in PwHA. Ultrasound measurement of muscle thickness appears to be a reliable tool for the assessment of muscle mass in PwHA. The 6MWT also appears to be useful tool for assessment of physical capacity and endurance in PwHA.

Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.