ArticleThe Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume2018
A 20-Year Prospective Longitudinal Study of Degeneration of the Cervical Spine in a Volunteer Cohort Assessed Using MRI: Follow-up of a Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Level-dependent changes in cervical multifidus composition following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: bridging quantitative MRI and clinical perspectives.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2026Article
- Multisensory Integration for Identifying the Milling States in Robot-Assisted Cervical Laminectomy.Orthopaedic surgery · 2025Article
- Longitudinal MRI study over 20 years of cervical posterior extensor muscle area in asymptomatic subjects.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Characteristics of cervical intervertebral disc signal intensity: an analysis of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in 5843 asymptomatic Chinese subjects.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 · 2023Article
- Low-dose celecoxib-loaded PCL fibers reverse intervertebral disc degeneration by up-regulating CHSY3 expression.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2023Article
- Assessment of the correlation between clinical and radiological outcomes in patients suffering from mild to moderate cervical spine dysfunction symptoms: a prospective study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2022Article
- Changes in cross-sectional areas of posterior extensor muscles in thoracic spine: a 10-year longitudinal MRI study.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Patients having surgery for ulnar nerve compression at the elbow rarely have affection of the spinal nerve root at C8-Th1 levels.Frontiers in surgery · 2022Article
- Article
- Radiographic cervical spine degenerative findings: a study on a large population from age 18 to 97 years.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 · 2021Article
- Observational
- Twenty years of 'insanity' in diagnosing underlying clinically relevant cervical dysfunction using traditional MRI.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFew studies have addressed in detail long-term degenerative changes in the cervical spine. In this study, we evaluated the progression of degenerative changes of the cervical spine that occurred over a 20-year period in an originally healthy cohort. We also sought to clarify the relationship between the progression of cervical degenerative changes and the development of clinical symptoms.
methodsFor this prospective follow-up investigation, we recruited 193 subjects from an original cohort of 497 participants who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine between 1993 and 1996. The subjects were asked about the presence or absence of cervical spine-related symptoms. Degenerative changes of the cervical spine were assessed on MRI using an original numerical grading system. The relationship between the progression of degenerative changes and the onset of clinical symptoms was evaluated by logistic regression analysis.
resultsDegeneration in the cervical spine was found to have progressed in 95% of the subjects during the 20-year period. The finding of a decrease in signal intensity of the intervertebral disc progressed in a relatively high proportion of the subjects in all age groups and occurred with similar frequency (around 60%) at all intervertebral disc levels. The rate of progression of other structural failures on MRI increased with age and was highest at C5-C6. The progression of foraminal stenosis was associated with the onset of upper-limb pain (odds ratio, 4.71 [95% confidence interval, 1.02 to 21.7]).
conclusionsA progression of degenerative changes in the cervical spine on MRI over the 20-year period was detected in nearly all subjects. There was no relationship between the progression of degeneration on MRI and the development of clinical symptoms, with the exception of an association found between foraminal stenosis and upper-limb pain. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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