Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17237126›Full record

Trial reportHeart (British Cardiac Society)2007

Thoracic spinal cord stimulation improves functional status and relieves symptoms in patients with refractory angina pectoris: the first placebo-controlled randomised study.

Stephan Eddicks, Klaus Maier-Hauff, Michael Schenk, Andreas Müller, Gert Baumann, Heinz Theres

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Heart (British Cardiac Society), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
13.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 166 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Contemporary and Emerging Therapies in the Management of Refractory Angina: A Clinical Review.Catheterization and cardiovascular interventions : official journal of the Society for Cardiac Angiography & Interventions · 2026
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  19. Improvement in quality of life and angina pectoris: 1-year follow-up of patients with refractory angina pectoris and spinal cord stimulation.Netherlands heart journal : monthly journal of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology and the Netherlands Heart Foundation · 2020
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Stephan EddicksCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie, Angiologie und Pulmologie, Berlin, Germany.
Klaus Maier-Hauff
Michael Schenk
Andreas Müller
Gert Baumann
Heinz Theres
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEBundeswehrkrankenhaus · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSpinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an alternative treatment option for refractory angina. Controlled trials demonstrate symptom relief and improvement in functional status. Since patients experience retrosternal prickling during active SCS, there is no option for blinding patients to active treatment or for placebo control.

objectiveTo examine the therapeutic effects of subthreshold SCS in patients with refractory angina in a placebo-controlled study.

methods12 responders to treatment who had already been treated with SCS for refractory angina were enrolled. Patients were randomised into four consecutive treatment arms, each for 4 weeks, with various stimulation timing and output parameters: 3 x 2 h/day (phase A) and 24 h/day with conventional output (phase B); 3 x 2 h/day with a subthreshold output (phase C); and 24 h/day with 0.1 V output, which served as control (phase D). Functional status, quality of life, Canadian Cardiovascular Society classification and nitrate usage were assessed at the end of each 4-week period.

resultsIn phase D, patients showed a significant reduction in walking distance compared with phases A and C. Canadian Cardiovascular Society classification worsened in phase D compared with phases A-C. Frequency of angina attacks and the visual analogue scale were significantly worse in phase D than in phases A-C. In three patients, it was necessary to prematurely terminate phase D owing to intolerable angina attacks.

conclusionsIn this first placebo-controlled trial to apply SCS in patients with refractory angina, improvement in functional status and symptoms was revealed in phases with conventional or subthreshold stimulation, in comparison to a low-output (placebo) phase.

Indexed as

AgedAngina PectorisChronic DiseaseElectric Stimulation TherapyExercise TestFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleNitroglycerinQuality of LifeSpinal CordTreatment OutcomeVasodilator AgentsNitroglycerinVasodilator Agents

Identifiers

PMID17237126
PMCPMC1955532
OpenAlexW2137147906

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.