Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is one of the chronic lung diseases that has increased in prevalence as a result of the widespread use of radiographic imaging. Malnutrition in NCFB increases the risk of infection by increasing inflammation and decreasing body composition and function. Skeletal muscle cross-sectional area (SMA) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) are used to assess nutritional status in chronic respiratory diseases. For SMA and SMI determination by using thorax CT (TCT),L1 SMA can be used as an alternative to L3 (Sanders et al, International Journal of COPD, 2019:14).To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the results of a nutritional evaluation of NCFB patients using L1 SMA, SMI to exacerbation.

Our study aims to analyse the role of nutritional risk score NRS-2002 levels and skeletal muscle index (SMI)(mm²/m²) of the L1 section in assessing malnutrition risk and its effect on the number of exacerbations over the last year.

The cross-sectional study comprised 86 stable NCFB patients,who had undergone a TCT during the previous year. TCT L1 SMI and SMA, subdivided into total, paraspinal, and intercostal muscle areas were analyzed based on the number of exacerbations ?3 in the previous year and the NRS-2002?3.

43% of the participants reported ?3 exacerbations in the previous year. 18.6% of patients had an NRS-2002 score ?3.SMI in the group with NRS-2002 ?3 was found to be lower(p<0.021).The L1 paraspinal muscle area was lower in the group that experienced ?3 exacerbations(p=0.045). 

The available and accessible L1 SMA and SMI can be used to manage NCFB and predict the risk of malnutrition and exacerbation.