Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34108602›Full record

Observational studyScientific reports2021

Radiological anatomy of the intracranial vertebral artery in a select South African cohort of patients.

B R Omotoso, R Harrichandparsad, K S Satyapal, I G Moodley, L Lazarus

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

Observational study in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 13% 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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  6. Primary hemifacial spasm: anatomical insights.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2025
    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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

B R OmotosoDiscipline of Clinical Anatomy, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
R HarrichandparsadDepartment of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
K S SatyapalDiscipline of Clinical Anatomy, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
I G MoodleyDepartment of Radiology, Jackpersad and Partners Inc, Specialist Diagnostic Radiologists, Lenmed Ethekwini Hospital and Heart Centre, Durban, South Africa.
L LazarusDiscipline of Clinical Anatomy, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa. ramsaroopl@ukzn.ac.za.
University of KwaZulu-Natal · ZAeThekwini Municipality · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The intracranial segment of the vertebral artery (VA) is the unique part of the artery where the two VAs join to form a single vascular channel, viz. the basilar artery. In addition to this typical description, anatomical variations have been described; the presence of anatomical variation has been associated with some pathological processes, neurological complications, and the risk of vascular diseases in the posterior circulatory territory. We evaluated the typical anatomical features and variations of the VA4 component of the VA in a South African population to provide useful data on the prevalence of variation and morphometry of the distal VA. The study is an observational, retrospective chart review of 554 consecutive South African patients (Black, Indian, and Caucasian) who had been examined with multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) from January 2009 to September 2019. We observed various anatomical variations in the VA4 segment of the VA. We report the incidence of VA hypoplasia, hypoplastic terminal VA, and atresia. Fenestration and duplicate posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) origin were also observed. The left intracranial VA was significantly larger than the right. Our study shows that anatomical variation of the intracranial VA is common in the population studied, with a total prevalence of 36.5%. Understanding the patterns of anatomical variations of the VAs will contribute significantly to the interpretation of ischemic areas and diagnosis of various diseases in the posterior circulatory territory.

Indexed as

Anatomic VariationAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overBlack PeopleCerebrovascular DisordersChildComputed Tomography AngiographyFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIncidenceMaleMiddle AgedPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID34108602
PMCPMC8190432
OpenAlexW3170384049

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.