Trial reportResearch in developmental disabilities2014
Heterogeneity of muscle fat infiltration in children with spina bifida.
Trial report in Research in developmental disabilities, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analysis of Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition in Lower and Upper Limbs of Spina Bifida Patients Using DXA Scans.Progress in rehabilitation medicine · 2026Article
- Increased Asymmetry of Trunk, Pelvis, and Hip Motion during Gait in Ambulatory Children with Spina Bifida.Symmetry · 2021Article
- Quantitative Analysis of Lower Leg Adipose Tissue Distribution in Youth with Myelomeningocele.Journal of child neurology · 2016Article
- Fat distribution in children and adolescents with myelomeningocele.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Children with spina bifida have well recognized functional deficits of muscle, but little is known about the associated changes in muscle anatomy and composition. This study used water-fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure fat infiltration in the lower extremity muscles of 11 children with myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida. MRI measurements of muscle fat fraction (FF) were compared against manual muscle test (MMT) scores for muscle strength. The FF measurements were objective and reliable with mean inter-rater differences of <2% and intraclass correlation coefficients>0.98. There was a significant inverse relationship between muscle FF and MMT scores (P ≤ 0.001). Surprisingly, however, muscles with negligible strength (MMT 0-1) exhibited a bimodal distribution of FF with one group having FF>70% and another group having FF<20%. The MRI also revealed striking heterogeneity amongst individual muscles in the same muscle group (e.g., 4% fat in one participant's lateral gastrocnemius vs. 88% in her medial gastrocnemius), as well as significant asymmetry in FF in one participant with asymmetric strength and sensation. These results suggest that quantitative water-fat MRI may serve as a biomarker for muscle degeneration which may reveal subclinical changes useful for predicting functional potential and prognosis.
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Registered trials
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