Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33893871›Full record

ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2021

The association between spondylolisthesis and decreased muscle health throughout the lumbar spine for patients with operative lumbar spinal stenosis.

Sohrab Virk, Milan Sandhu, Joshua Wright-Chisem, Avani Vaishnav, Todd Albert, Sheeraz A Qureshi

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in 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, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 19% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. What Is 'Muscle Health'? A Narrative Review and Conceptual Framework.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Association between muscle health and patient-reported outcomes after lumbar microdiscectomy: early results.The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society · 2022
    Article
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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Sohrab VirkHospital for Special Surgery, 535 E. 70th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Milan SandhuWeill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
Joshua Wright-ChisemHospital for Special Surgery, 535 E. 70th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Avani VaishnavHospital for Special Surgery, 535 E. 70th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Todd AlbertHospital for Special Surgery, 535 E. 70th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Sheeraz A QureshiHospital for Special Surgery, 535 E. 70th St., New York, NY, 10021, USA. sheerazqureshimd@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-7177-1756
Hospital for Special Surgery · USCornell University · US

Funding

Disparities in COVID Disease Severity and Outcomes in New York CityUL1TR002384 · NCATS · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI JULIANNE L IMPERATO-MCGINLEY · 2017 to 2026
$86.2M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR002384
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThere are data underlining the relationship between muscle health and spine related pathology, but little data regarding changes in paralumbar muscle associated with lumbar spondylolisthesis. We aimed to define changes in paralumbar muscle health associated with spondylolisthesis.

methodsA retrospective review was performed on consecutive patients with lumbar spine pathology requiring an operation. A pre-operative lumbar MRI was analysed for muscle health measurements including lumbar indentation value (LIV), paralumbar cross-sectional area divided by body mass index (PL-CSA/BMI), and Goutallier classification of fatty atrophy. All measurements were taken from an axial slice of a T2-weighted image at lumbar disc spaces. Baseline health-related quality of life scores (HRQOLs), narcotic use and areas of stenosis were tracked. We performed Chi-square analyses and student's t test to determine statistically significant differences between cohorts.

resultsThere were 307 patients (average age 56.1 ± 16.7 years, 141 females) included within our analysis. 112 patients had spondylolisthesis. There were no differences in baseline HRQOLs between the spondylolisthesis cohort (SC) and non-spondylolisthesis cohort (non-SC). There were significantly worse PL-CSA/BMI at L2-L3 (p = 0.03), L3-L4 (p = 0.04) and L4-L5 (p = 0.02) for the SC. Goutallier classification of paralumbar muscle was worse for SC at L1-L2 (p = 0.04) and at L4-L5 (p < 0.001). Increased grade of spondylolisthesis was associated with worse PL-CSA at L1-L2 (p = 0.02), L2-L3 (p = 0.03) and L3-L4 (p = 0.05). Similarly, there were worse Goutallier classification scores associated with higher-grade spondylolisthesis at all levels (p < 0.05).

conclusionThere are significant detrimental changes to paralumbar muscle health throughout the lumbar spine associated with spondylolisthesis.

Indexed as

Spinal StenosisSpondylolisthesisAdultAgedFemaleHumansMiddle AgedMusclesQuality of LifeRetrospective StudiesLumbar spinal stenosisLumbar spine surgeryMuscle healthPatient-reported outcomesSpondylolisthesis

Identifiers

PMID33893871
PMCPMC11296382
OpenAlexW3154011165

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.