Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33500825›Full record

ArticleSurgical neurology international2021

Traumatic subaxial cervical spine injury - Improving initial evaluation through correlation of diffusion tensor imaging and subaxial cervical spine injury classification SLIC score.

Bogdan Florin Iliescu, Pavel Gutu, Marius Gabriel Dabija

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Surgical neurology international, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 46% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The use of diffusion tensor imaging in spinal pathology: a comprehensive literature review.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 · 2024
    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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Bogdan Florin IliescuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prof. Dr. N. Oblu Clinical Emergency Hospital, Iasi, Romania.
Pavel GutuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Schwarzwald-Baar Klinikum, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
Marius Gabriel DabijaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prof. Dr. N. Oblu Clinical Emergency Hospital, Iasi, Romania.
Clinical Emergency Hospital Bucharest · RO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTraumatic injury to spine and spinal cord represents a devastating condition, with a huge risk for permanent severe disabilities. Predicting the long-term outcome in this type of trauma is a very difficult task being under the influence of a wide spectrum of biomechanical and pathophysiological factors. The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) structural evaluation of the spinal cord brought critical supplementary data in the initial evaluation of these cases. Although edema and hemorrhage proved to be valuable in predicting the outcome, there is a well-documented discrepancy between MRI findings and clinical status.

methodsWe performed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MR in 22 symptomatic patients with traumatic cervical spine injuries (mean age 49.6 ± 16, range from 17 to 74 years, 20 males and 2 females). DTI parameters were computed in 15 patients. Regional apparent diffusion coefficient, fractional anisotropy (FA), and fiber length (FL) were calculated in the region of interest defined as the region of maximum structural MR alterations and in the normal cord (above or below the level of the injury). The values for normal and pathological cord were compared. The clinical deficit was assessed with ASIA and subaxial cervical spine injury classification (SLIC) scores. We looked at the correlation between the DTI measures and clinical scores.

resultsThere is a highly significant difference between normal and pathological spinal cord for all DTI properties measured. There is also a strong correlation between DTI measures and SLIC clinical score, especially for FA. Significant results were obtained for CDA and FL as well although with lesser statistical power.

conclusionOur results suggest that DTI measures, especially FA, represent a strong indicator of the severity of the traumatic cervical cord injury. It correlates very well with SLCI score and can be used as an additional confirmation of the real degree of level lesioning and as a prognostic factor for the neurological outcome regardless of the choice of treatment.

Indexed as

CervicalDiffusion tensor imagingMagnetic resonance imagingSpineSubaxial cervical spine injury classificationTrauma

Identifiers

PMID33500825
PMCPMC7827446
OpenAlexW3120730466

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.