Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22499847›Full record

ArticleAJNR. American journal of neuroradiology2012

Vertebral endplate changes are not associated with chronic low back pain among Southern European subjects: a case control study.

F M Kovacs, E Arana, A Royuela, A Estremera, G Amengual, B Asenjo, H Sarasíbar, I Galarraga, A Alonso, C Casillas and 4 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. ISSLS Prize in Bioengineering Science 2026: Hidden in Plain Sight: Machine Learning-Assisted MRI Reveals Novel Vertebral Body Biomarkers of Chronic Low Back Pain in Humans.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
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  12. Association between types of Modic changes in the lumbar region and low back pain in a large cohort: the Wakayama spine study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2021
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  19. Reply: To PMID 22499847.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2013
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  20. Paternalism in radiology?AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2013
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

F M KovacsDepartamento Científico, Fundación Kovacs, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
E Arana
A Royuela
A Estremera
G Amengual
B Asenjo
H Sarasíbar
I Galarraga
A Alonso
C Casillas
A Muriel
C Martínez
V Abraira
Spanish Back Pain Research Network
Fundación Kovacs · ESHospital Son Llatzer · ESClínica Rementería · ESHospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeData on the association between vertebral endplate changes and low back pain are contradictory. This study was designed to assess whether this association exists among Southern European subjects. MATERIALS AND

methodsPatients in this study serving as cases were 35-50 years of age with low back pain lasting >90 days, for whom a lumbar MR imaging had been prescribed. Controls were subjects 35-50 years of age, having a cranial MR imaging for headache with normal findings, and no history of clinically relevant LBP. Two hundred forty cases and 64 controls were recruited consecutively in the radiology services across 6 cities in Spain. Imaging findings and subject characteristics were gathered through previously validated instruments. Radiologists who interpreted MRI were blinded to the subject characteristics. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed to assess the association of vertebral endplate changes with LBP, adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, lifetime exposure to smoking, physical activity, disk degeneration, and the interaction between disk degeneration and vertebral endplate changes.

resultsVertebral endplate changes were found in 80.4% of the cases and in 87.5% of the controls. In the regression model, disk degeneration was the only variable showing a confounding effect. Results showed that after adjusting for disk degeneration, the presence of vertebral endplate changes is associated with the absence of chronic LBP (OR for LBP: 0.31; 95% CI, 0.10-0.95).

conclusionsIn Southern European subjects, vertebral endplate changes are not associated with chronic LBP.

Indexed as

Magnetic Resonance ImagingAdultCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansLow Back PainLumbar VertebraeMaleMiddle AgedSpainSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID22499847
PMCPMC7966545
OpenAlexW2097211054

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.