Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26227960›Full record

ArticleBMC neurology2015

T1- vs. T2-based MRI measures of spinal cord volume in healthy subjects and patients with multiple sclerosis.

Gloria Kim, Fariha Khalid, Vinit V Oommen, Shahamat Tauhid, Renxin Chu, Mark A Horsfield, Brian C Healy, Rohit Bakshi

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC neurology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. The Effect of Glatiramer Acetate on Spinal Cord Volume in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging · 2017
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Gloria KimDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. gkim12@partners.org.
Fariha KhalidDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. fkhalid@partners.org.
Vinit V OommenDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. voommen@partners.org.
Shahamat TauhidDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. shahamat@bwh.harvard.edu.
Renxin ChuDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. renxin@bwh.harvard.edu.
Mark A HorsfieldDepartment of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK. m.horsfield@xinapse.com.
Brian C HealyDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. bchealy@partners.org.
Rohit BakshiDepartments of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research, Partners MS Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. rbakshi@post.harvard.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe reliable and efficient measurement of spinal cord atrophy is of growing interest in monitoring disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS).

methodsWe compared T1- and T2-weighted MRI for measuring cervical spinal cord volume in 31 patients with MS and 18 age-matched controls (NC) from T1-weighted gradient recalled echo and T2-weighted fast spin-echo 1.5 T axial acquisitions. The two sequences were matched on slice thickness, signal averages and voxel size. An active surface software tool determined the normalized mean cervical cord cross-sectional area.

resultsT1-derived cord areas were higher than T2 areas in the whole cohort (estimated mean difference = 7.03 mm(2) (8.89%); 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 5.91, 8.14; p < 0.0001) and in both groups separately. There were trends for lower spinal cord areas in MS vs. NC with both sequences. For the T1 cord area, the mean difference was 3.7 mm(2) (4.55%) (95% CI: -1.36, 8.78; p = 0.15). For the T2 cord area, the difference was larger [mean difference 4.9 mm(2) (6.52%) (95% CI: -0.83, 10.67); p = 0.091]. The T1 and T2 cord areas showed similar weak to moderate correlations with measures of clinical status and T2 spinal cord lesion volume in the MS group. Superficial spinal cord T2 lesions had no apparent confounding effect on the outlining tool. The mean intra-rater and inter-rater coefficients of variation ranged from 0.27 to 0.91% for T1- and 0.66 to 0.99% for T2-derived cord areas.

conclusionT2-weighted images may prove efficient for measuring cervical spinal cord atrophy in MS, with the added advantage of lesion detectability.

Indexed as

AdultAtrophyCervical VertebraeDisease ProgressionFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedMultiple SclerosisSoftwareSpinal CordYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID26227960
PMCPMC4521382

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Registered trials

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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.