151751-Najiba-Chargi

161 Surgery: skeletal muscle mass, arterial calcification and laryngectomy fication. The reader was blinded for patient and treatment related factors, as well as for study outcomes (e.g., formation of PCF). A visual grading systemwas used similar to previous studies in order to consistently score CT images on arterial calcification at 10 different anatomical locations.18 ,21 The selected locations include large aortic structures (ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending aorta and origo of the brachiocephalic arteries), carotid structures (left and right extracranial carotid artery, left and right carotid siphon), and left and right vertebral arteries. Scores of 0, 1, 2 and 3 were assigned, for all locations except origo of the brachiocephalic arteries corresponding with the absence of calcifications (score 0), mild calcification defined as one or two dots of calcium smaller than 1cm (score 1), moderate calcification defined as one calcification larger than 1cm (score 2), and severe calcification defined as circular calcification or a large calcification combined with smaller dots or >2 dots (score 3), respectively. For the origo of the brachioce - phalic arteries, a score of 0 corresponds with no calcification present, a score of 1 with the calcification of one origo of a brachiocephalic artery, a score of 2 with the calcification of two brachiocephalic arteries and a score of 3 with the calcification of all three brachiocephalic arteries. A cumulative calcification score was calculated of arterial calcification scores at all anatomical sites resulting in a score between 0 and 30 for total arterial calcification. Table 1 shows the distribution of arterial calcification at the selected anatomical locations. Examples of arterial calcification on CT imaging are presented in Figure 1. Figure 1. Examples of preoperative CT images of arterial calcification in patients planned for laryngec- tomy. A white arrow indicates a severe calcification (score 2 or 3) whereas a black arrow indicates minor calcification (score 1). A: Calcification of the origo of all three brachiocephalic arteries, resulting in a score of 3 for calcification of the brachiocephalic arteries. B: Calcification of the left and right external carotid arteries, resulting in a score of 3 for calcification of the external carotid arteries. C: Calcification of the ascending aorta with two minor specs of calcification and one severe calcification, resulting in a score of 2 for calcification of the ascending aorta. D: Multiple calcified foci of the descending aorta with several minor specs of calcification and one larger segment, resulting in a score of 2 for calcification of the descending aorta. 9