Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35776179›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 Society2022

Spatial distribution of fat infiltration within the paraspinal muscles: implications for chronic low back pain.

Karim Khattab, Lucas K Dziesinski, Rebecca Crawford, Alex Ballatori, Priya Nyayapati, Roland Krug, Aaron Fields, Conor W O'Neill, Jeffrey C Lotz, Jeannie F Bailey

Open access · hybridAbstract 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, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Chronicity and physical activity levels independently associate with spatial patterns of multifidus fat infiltration in chronic low back pain patients.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 · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Spatial patterns of fat within the deep multifidus as a biomarker for chronic low back pain.The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society · 2026
    Observational
  5. Article
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  8. Active and passive physical therapy in patients with chronic low-back pain: a level I Bayesian network meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2025
    Article
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  11. ISSLS Prize in Basic Science 2025: Structural changes of muscle spindles in the multifidus muscle after intervertebral disk injury are resolved by targeted activation of the muscle.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 · 2025
    Article
  12. Relationship between diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and lumbar paravertebral muscle fat infiltration: a CT-based retrospective study.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 · 2025
    Article
  13. Three-dimensional spatial distribution of lumbar paraspinal intramuscular fat revealed by spatial parametric mapping.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 · 2025
    Article
  14. 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

10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Karim Khattab *Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Lucas K Dziesinski *Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Rebecca CrawfordBody Urbanist, Hünenberg See, Zug, Switzerland.
Alex BallatoriDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Priya NyayapatiDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Roland KrugDepartment of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Aaron FieldsDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Conor W O'NeillDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Jeffrey C LotzDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.
Jeannie F BaileyDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco 95 Kirkham St, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA. Jeannie.Bailey@ucsf.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4618-7512
University of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Teacher Education Zug · CH

Funding

UCSF Core Center for Patient-centric Mechanistic Phenotyping in Chronic Low Back PainU19AR076737 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI HADLEY, DEXTER D · 2019 to 2023
$34.1M
UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and MedicineP30AR066262 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI MAJUMDAR, SHARMILA · 2014 to 2018
$3.0M
Phenotypes of pathologic vertebral endplate degenerationR01AR063705 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI LOTZ, JEFFREY C. · 2013 to 2017
$3.0M
Novel imaging of endplate biomarkers in chronic low back painUH3AR076719 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI FIELDS, AARON J · 2021 to 2021
$1.9M
Novel imaging of endplate biomarkers in chronic low back painUH2AR076719 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI FIELDS, AARON J, KRUG, ROLAND · 2019 to 2019
$1.1M
NIAMS NIH HHS P30 AR066262NIAMS NIH HHS R01 AR063705NIAMS NIH HHS U19 AR076737NIAMS NIH HHS UH2 AR076719NIAMS NIH HHS UH3 AR076719
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeFat infiltration (FI) of the paraspinal muscles (PSMs) measured using MRI is an aspect of muscle quality and is considered to be worse in chronic low back pain (cLBP) patients. However, there is not a clear association between paraspinal muscle FI and cLBP, leaving the clinical importance of paraspinal muscle composition unestablished. The spatial distribution of FI in the PSMs may inform mechanistic understanding of non-specific cLBP as it relates to degenerative intervertebral disc (IVD) pathology. We hypothesized that paraspinal muscle fat-mapping would reveal distinct FI distribution patterns in relation to cLBP symptoms and proximity to symptomatic IVD degeneration.

methodsFrom advanced-sequence water-fat MRI of 40 axial cLBP patients and 21 controls, we examined the spatial distribution of paraspinal muscle FI in relation to the center of rotation at the L4L5 disc. Using statistical parametric mapping, we compared FI patterns for multifidus (MF), erector spinae (ES), and psoas between patients and controls, and to the presence and severity of adjacent degenerative IVD pathology.

resultsThe spatial distribution of PSMs FI differs between PSMs and according to symptoms and the adjacent degenerative IVD pathology. Furthermore, the region of MF closest to the disc center of rotation appears most susceptible to FI in the presence of symptomatic IVD degeneration.

conclusionOur study identified spatial distribution patterns of FI in the PSMs as a potential diagnostic biomarker that may also provide granular mechanistic insights into spine biomechanics related to cLBP, as well as advancing the use of prior summary measures limited to overall muscle FI.

Indexed as

Low Back PainParaspinal MusclesHumansLumbar VertebraeMagnetic Resonance ImagingChronic low back painFat infiltrationMRIMultifidusParaspinal muscles

Identifiers

PMID35776179
PMCPMC9637053
OpenAlexW4283738427

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.