Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31727136›Full record

ArticleJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2019

The diagnostic value of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) for the discrimination of vertebral osteomyelitis and degenerative diseases of the spine.

Jan Simon Scharrenberg, Ayla Yagdiran, Julia Brinkmann, Maik Brune, Jan Siewe, Norma Jung, Esther Mahabir

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02554227 (Verification and Progress of Cytokine Profiles and suPAR for the Discrimination of Infectious and Non-infectious, Degenerative Diseases of the Spine), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 27% 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.

NCT02554227 completednot on this map

Verification and Progress of Cytokine Profiles and suPAR for the Discrimination of Infectious and Non-infectious, Degenerative Diseases of the Spine

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity of CologneRan2015 to 2017Enrolled36ConditionsSpondylodiscitisArmsCytokine Profile and suPAR
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Diagnostic imaging confusion in infectious spondylitis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Jan Simon ScharrenbergComparative Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Cologne, Robert-Koch-Straße 21, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Ayla YagdiranDepartment of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Julia BrinkmannComparative Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Cologne, Robert-Koch-Straße 21, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Maik BruneDepartment of Medicine I and Clinical Chemistry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
Jan SieweFaculty of Medicine, University Hospital, Cologne, Germany.
Norma JungDepartment I of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Esther MahabirComparative Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Cologne, Robert-Koch-Straße 21, 50931, Cologne, Germany. esther.mahabir-brenner@uni-koeln.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9573-5127
University of Cologne · DEHeidelberg University · DETH Köln - University of Applied Sciences · DEUniversity Hospital Cologne · DE

Funding

Maria Pesch-Stiftung No. 3645038031
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is still a challenge in discriminating between vertebral osteomyelitis and degenerative diseases of the spine. To this end, we determined the suitability of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and compared the diagnostic potential of suPAR to CRP.

methodsPatients underwent surgical stabilization of the lumbar and/or thoracic spine with removal of one or more affected intervertebral discs, as therapy for vertebral osteomyelitis (n = 16) or for erosive osteochondrosis (control group, n = 20). In this prospective study, we evaluated the suPAR and CRP levels before (pre-OP) and after surgery (post-OP) on days 3-5, 6-11, 40-56, and 63-142.

resultsThe suPAR levels in vertebral osteomyelitis patients were significantly higher than those from controls pre-OP, 3-5 days post-OP, and 6-11 days post-OP. Significantly higher CRP levels were observed in the vertebral osteomyelitis group than in the controls pre-OP and 6-11 days post-OP. Levels of suPAR and CRP correlated positively in all patients in the pre-OP period: r = 0.63 (95% CI: 0.37-0.79), p < 0.0001. The values for the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) for pre-OP and the overall model post-OP were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.76-1.00) and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.71-0.97) for suPAR, 0.93 (95% CI: 0.85-1.00) and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.62-0.93) for CRP, and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-1.00) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.82-1.00) for the combination of suPAR and CRP. The AUC for suPAR pre-OP revealed an optimum cut-off value, sensitivity, specificity, NPV, and PPV of 2.96 ng/mL, 0.69, 1.00, 0.80, and 1.00, respectively. For CRP, these values were 11.58 mg/L, 0.88, 0.90, 0.90, and 0.88, respectively.

conclusionThe present results show that CRP is more sensitive than suPAR whereas suPAR is more specific than CRP. Moreso, our study demonstrated that improvement in the diagnostic power for discrimination of vertebral osteomyelitis and degenerative diseases of the spine can be achieved by a combination of both suPAR and CRP.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02554227, posted Sept. 18, 2015, and updated Aug. 13, 2019.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesC-Reactive ProteinDiskectomyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOsteochondrosisOsteomyelitisProspective StudiesReceptors, Urokinase Plasminogen ActivatorSpinal DiseasesBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinReceptors, Urokinase Plasminogen ActivatorBacterial infectionBiomarkerDiagnosticsSoluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR)Vertebral osteomyelitis

Identifiers

PMID31727136
PMCPMC6854784
OpenAlexW2987823362

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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.