Evans WJ, Morley JE, Argiles J, et al.
Clin Nutr 2008;27:793-9
The lack of a universally agreed upon operational definition of cachexia has limited identification and treatment of cachectic patient as well as the development and approval of potential therapeutic agents. The authors report on a consensus conference held on December 13-14, 2006, in Washington, DC, USA. The following definition is proposed: “Cachexia is a complex metabolic syndrome associated with underlying illness and characterized by loss of muscle with or without loss of fat mass. The prominent clinical feature of cachexia is weight loss in adults (corrected for fluid retention) or growth failure in children (excluding endocrine disorders).”