Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34524485›Full record

ArticleSurgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA2021

Normal anatomy, variants and factors associated with the cervical vagus nerve topography: a high-resolution ultrasound study.

Eleni Drakonaki, Gregory Clouverakis, Maria Piagkou, Ioannis Koliarakis, Phaedon D Zavras, Irini Vourliotaki, Konstantinos Natsis, John Tsiaoussis

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In one paragraph

Article in Surgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 26% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Eleni DrakonakiDiagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound Practice, Crete, Heraklion, Greece. drakonaki@yahoo.gr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3629-3277
Gregory ClouverakisBiostatistics Laboratory, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
Maria PiagkouDepartment of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Ioannis KoliarakisDepartment of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Phaedon D ZavrasDepartment of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Irini VourliotakiDepartment of Endocrinology, Venizeleion General Hospital, Heraklion, Greece.
Konstantinos NatsisDepartment of Anatomy and Surgical Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloníki, Greece.
John TsiaoussisDepartment of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
University of Crete · GRAristotle University of Thessaloniki · GRJacobi Medical Center · USNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens · GRThe General Hospital of Heraklion "Venizeleio-Pananio" · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo describe the cervical vagus nerve (CVN) topography at the thyroid lobe (TL) level using high-resolution ultrasound and to investigate the possible association with anthropometric data, TL size, and thyroid disease.

methodsWe prospectively examined 550 CVNs in 275 (205 female, 70 male) individuals with normal thyroid (53/275, 19.3%), multinodular disease (167/275, 60.7%), and Hashimoto thyroiditis (55/275, 20%). The CVN location relative to the common carotid artery was recorded as typical (lateral position) and atypical (anterior, medial, and posterior position). The shortest distance between CVN and TL margin, the TL dimensions, and volume were measured.

resultsNormal thyroid subjects had lateral-positioned right CVNs in 100% and lateral/anterior/medial left CVNs in 81.1%, 15.1%, and 3.8%, respectively. CVN types did not differ significantly bilaterally between study groups. Asymmetry in CVN topography in all subjects was found in 22.2%, of which anterior CVN was the most common atypical position (64%), especially on the left side (82%). Significant gender, age, body mass, and BMI differences among CVN types were observed on the left side only. Among CVN types, no difference in TL dimensions, volume, and CVN-TL distance was found in all study groups. A weak negative correlation was recorded between CVN-thyroid distance and TL volume only on the left side (r = - 0.147, p = 0.01).

conclusionAsymmetry in CVN topography is mainly due to the increased incidence of the anterior location of CVN on the left side. Age and anthropometric parameters are different on the left side possibly due to the increased prevalence of left CVN variants.

Indexed as

NeckVagus NerveCarotid ArteriesFemaleHumansMaleThyroid GlandUltrasonographyAnatomyCervical vagus nerveUltrasoundVariation

Identifiers

PMID34524485
OpenAlexW3200148435

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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.