The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) has achieved a consensus for the diagnosis of malnutrition in recent years. This study aims to determine the prognostic effect of the GLIM after cardiac surgery. A total of 603 patients in the training cohort and 258 patients in the validation cohort were enrolled in this study. Perioperative characteristics and follow-up data were collected. A nomogram based on independent prognostic predictors was developed for survival prediction. In total, 114 (18.9%) and 48 (18.6%) patients were defined as being malnourished according to the GLIM criteria in the two cohorts, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis showed that GLIM-defined malnutrition was an independent risk factor of total complication (OR 1.661, 95% CI: 1.063-2.594) and overall survival (HR 2.339, 95% CI: 1.504-3.637). The c-index was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.66-0.79) and AUC were 0.800, 0.798, and 0.780 for 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival prediction, respectively. The calibration curves of the nomogram fit well. In conclusion, GLIM criteria can efficiently identify malnutrition and has a prognostic effect on clinical outcomes after cardiac surgery. GLIM-based nomogram has favorable performance in survival prediction.
Keywords: Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition; cardiac surgery; clinical outcomes; nomogram.