Trial reportEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2022
The association between preoperative MRI findings and clinical improvement in patients included in the NORDSTEN spinal stenosis trial.
Trial report 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 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dural Sac Cross-sectional area change from preoperatively and up to 2 years after decompressive surgery for central lumbar spinal stenosis: investigation of operated levels, data from the NORDSTEN 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 · 2024Trial
- The impact of overall lumbar disc degeneration burden on disability outcomes following surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis due to osteoarthritis.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Comparing Spinopelvic Angles and Magnification on Supine MRI With Standing Radiographs in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Clinical spine surgery · 2026Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Unilateral Interlaminar Endoscopic Decompression for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Retrospective Study of 176 Cases With a 3-6 Year Follow-Up.Orthopaedic surgery · 2025Article
- Functional recovery after lumbar spinal stenosis surgery: Postural balance and residual urine as objective markers.Brain & spine · 2025Article
- Preoperative fatty infiltration of paraspinal muscles assessed by MRI is associated with less improvement of leg pain 2 years after surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis.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 · 2024Article
- Effect of different loads on facet joint motion during lumbar lateral bending in sitting position.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Article
- Development and temporal validation of clinical prediction models for 1-year disability and pain after lumbar decompressive surgery. The Norwich Lumbar Surgery Predictor (development version).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 · 2023Article
- Poor muscle health and low preoperative ODI are independent predictors for slower achievement of MCID after minimally invasive decompression.The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society · 2023Article
- Reviewer's Comment to "The association between preoperative MRI findings and clinical improvement in patients included in the NORDSTEN spinal stenosis trial" by J. Aaen et al. (Eur Spine J [2022]; doi: 10.1007/s00586-022-07317-5): does the severity of radiological stenosis influence post-operative results following spinal decompression?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 · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo investigate potential associations between preoperative MRI findings and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) after surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).
methodsThe NORDSTEN trial included 437 patients. We investigated the association between preoperative MRI findings such as morphological grade of stenosis (Schizas grade), quantitative grade of stenosis (dural sac cross-sectional area), disc degeneration (Pfirrmann score), facet joint tropism and fatty infiltration of the multifidus muscle, and improvement in patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) 2 years after surgery. We dichotomized each radiological parameter into a moderate or severe category. PROMs i.e., Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ) and Numeric rating scale (NRS) for back and leg pain were collected before surgery and at 2 year follow-up. In the primary analysis, we investigated the association between MRI findings and ODI score (dichotomized to ≥ 30% improvement or not). In the secondary analysis, we investigated the association between MRI findings and the mean improvement on the ODI-, ZCQ- and NRS scores. We used multivariable regression models adjusted for patients' gender, age, smoking status and BMI.
resultsThe primary analysis showed that severe disc degeneration (Pfirrmann score 4-5) was significantly associated with less chance of achieving a 30% improvement on the ODI score (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34, 0.88). In the secondary analysis, we detected no clinical relevant associations.
conclusionSevere disc degeneration preoperatively suggest lesser chance of achieving 30% improvement in ODI score after surgery for LSS. Other preoperative MRI findings were not associated with patient reported outcome.
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