Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28649492›Full record

ArticleNeuroImage. Clinical2017

Relationship between brainstem neurodegeneration and clinical impairment in traumatic spinal cord injury.

Patrick Grabher, Claudia Blaiotta, John Ashburner, Patrick Freund

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% 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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Review
  5. Review
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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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Patrick GrabherSpinal Cord Injury Center Balgrist, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Claudia BlaiottaWellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
John AshburnerWellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
Patrick FreundSpinal Cord Injury Center Balgrist, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: patrick.freund@balgrist.ch.
Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging · GBUniversity of Zurich · CH

Funding

Wellcome Trust 091593/Z/10/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBrainstem networks are pivotal in sensory and motor function and in recovery following experimental spinal cord injury (SCI).

objectiveTo quantify neurodegeneration and its relation to clinical impairment in major brainstem pathways and nuclei in traumatic SCI.

methodsQuantitative MRI data of 30 chronic traumatic SCI patients (15 with tetraplegia and 15 with paraplegia) and 23 controls were acquired. Patients underwent a full neurological examination. We calculated quantitative myelin-sensitive (magnetisation transfer saturation (MT) and longitudinal relaxation rate (R1)) and iron-sensitive (effective transverse relaxation rate (R2*)) maps. We constructed brainstem tissue templates using a multivariate Gaussian mixture model and assessed volume loss, myelin reductions, and iron accumulation across the brainstem pathways (e.g. corticospinal tracts (CSTs) and medial lemniscus), and nuclei (e.g. red nucleus and periaqueductal grey (PAG)). The relationship between structural changes and clinical impairment were assessed using regression analysis.

resultsVolume loss was detected in the CSTs and in the medial lemniscus. Myelin-sensitive MT and R1 were reduced in the PAG, the CSTs, the dorsal medulla and pons. No iron-sensitive changes in R2* were detected. Lower pinprick score related to more myelin reductions in the PAG, whereas lower functional independence was related to more myelin reductions in the vestibular and pontine nuclei.

conclusionNeurodegeneration, indicated by volume loss and myelin reductions, is evident in major brainstem pathways and nuclei following traumatic SCI; the magnitude of these changes relating to clinical impairment. Thus, quantitative MRI protocols offer new targets, which may be used as neuroimaging biomarkers in treatment trials.

Indexed as

AdultAgedBrain StemCervical VertebraeCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLumbar VertebraeMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeurodegenerative DiseasesSacrumSpinal Cord InjuriesThoracic VertebraeYoung AdultAtrophyBrain stemPeriaqueductal greyPyramidal tractsQuantitative MRIRed nucleusSpinal cord injuriesStructural MRI

Identifiers

PMID28649492
PMCPMC5470571
OpenAlexW2621386671

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.