Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36422717›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 Society2023

Clinical progression of ossification of the ligamentum flavum in thoracic spine: a 10- to 11-year follow-up study.

Tianqi Fan, Chuiguo Sun, Guanghui Chen, Shuai Jiang, Weishi Li, Zhongqiang Chen

Abstract read
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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, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Open posterior approach versus endoscopic approach for thoracic ligamentum flavum ossification: a systematic review and meta-analysis.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
    Pooled it
  3. Article
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  7. [Short-term effectiveness of floating island laminectomy surgery for thoracic spinal stenosis and myelopathy caused by ossification of ligamentum flavum].Zhongguo xiu fu chong jian wai ke za zhi = Zhongguo xiufu chongjian waike zazhi = Chinese journal of reparative and reconstructive surgery · 2025
    Article
  8. S8 Navigation system combined with an ultrasonic osteotome for three-dimensional real-time dynamic visualization decompression to reduce postoperative neurological deterioration in thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum.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
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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

6 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.

Tianqi FanDepartment of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China.
Chuiguo SunDepartment of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China.
Guanghui ChenBeijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Shuai JiangDepartment of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China.
Weishi Li *Department of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China.
Zhongqiang Chen *Department of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China. puth_czq@126.com.ORCID 0000-0003-4423-4995
Peking University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThoracic ossification of ligamentum flavum (TOLF) can be asymptomatic and progress insidiously. But, long-term follow-up results of clinical progression of TOLF are still unknown.

methodsThe clinical progression of 81 patients with TOLF at our center, followed for 10 to 11 (mean, 10.3) years from May 2010 to November 2021, were analyzed. Among them, 51 patients with thoracic myelopathy were caused by single- or multi-segment TOLF, and received partial TOLF resection (30 patients) or total TOLF resection (21 patients). The remaining 30 patients showed TOLF on imaging examinations, but TOLF was not the responsible compressing factor causing myelopathy and with no TOLF resection. The mJOA score (total 11 scores) and spinal operation were used to evaluate the clinical progression at follow-up.

resultsDuring the 10- to 11-year follow-up of 81 TOLF patients, 71 (87.7%) had no deterioration of neurological function, and 10 (12.3%) patients had deterioration of neurological function and had another spinal operation, including only 4 (4.9%) suffered thoracic myelopathy caused by the progression of TOLF; 6 (7.4%) for other spinal diseases: 2 (2.5%) had fall damage and acute spinal cord injury at the TOLF level; 2 (2.5%) had thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL); 2 (2.5%) had cervical spondylosis and received cervical operation.

conclusionsMost TOLF (87.7%) patients had no clinical progression and received no reoperations for TOLF in the ten-year dimension (mean, 10.3 years). Narrow spinal canal for TOLF increases the risk of traumatic paraplegia.

Indexed as

Ligamentum FlavumOssification, HeterotopicOssification of Posterior Longitudinal LigamentSpinal Cord DiseasesFollow-Up StudiesHumansOsteogenesisRetrospective StudiesThoracic VertebraeTreatment OutcomeClinical progressionLong-term follow-upOssification of the ligamentum flavum

Identifiers

PMID36422717
OpenAlexW4309891642

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.