Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38370337›Full record

ArticleNorth American Spine Society journal2024

Quantifying lumbar paraspinal intramuscular fat: Accuracy and reliability of automated thresholding models.

E O Wesselink, J M Elliott, A Pool-Goudzwaard, M W Coppieters, P P Pevenage, A Di Ieva, K A Weber Ii

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in North American Spine Society journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Spinal mobility and paraspinal muscle degeneration: a cross-sectional analysis from the Berlin Back 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 · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. 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
  9. Review
  10. Artificial Intelligence in Spine and Paraspinal Muscle Analysis.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024
    Review
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

7 authors.

E O WesselinkFaculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences - Program Musculoskeletal Health, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J M ElliottThe University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health and the Northern Sydney Local Health District, The Kolling Institute, Sydney, Australia.
A Pool-GoudzwaardFaculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences - Program Musculoskeletal Health, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
M W CoppietersFaculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences - Program Musculoskeletal Health, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
P P PevenageMRI Centrum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
A Di IevaComputational Neurosurgery (CNS) Lab, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Level 1, 75 Talavera Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
K A Weber IiDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.

Funding

MRI-Derived Neuromuscular Signatures to Predict Surgical Response in Degenerative Cervical MyelopathyR01NS128478 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Kenneth Arnold Weber · 2023 to 2026
$2.2M
Neuroimaging-Based Brain and Spinal Cord Biomarkers for Cervical RadiculopathyK23NS104211 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI WEBER, KENNETH ARNOLD · 2018 to 2022
$875k
NINDS NIH HHS K23 NS104211NINDS NIH HHS L30 NS108301NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS128478
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The reported level of lumbar paraspinal intramuscular fat (IMF) in people with low back pain (LBP) varies considerably across studies using conventional T Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included MRI scans from 30 people with LBP (50% female; mean (SD) age: 46.3 (15.0) years). Gaussian mixture modelling (GMM) and K-means clustering were used to quantify IMF bilaterally from the lumbar multifidus, erector spinae, and psoas major using two and three-component thresholding approaches (GMM Results: We found poor reliability for K-means Conclusions: The performance of automated thresholding models is strongly dependent on the choice of algorithms, number of components, and muscle assessed. Compared to Dixon MRI, the GMM performed better than K-means and three-component performed better than two-component models for quantifying lumbar multifidus and erector spinae IMF. None of the investigated models accurately quantified IMF for psoas major. Future research is needed to investigate the performance of thresholding models in a more heterogeneous clinical dataset and across different sites and vendors.

Indexed as

AdiposityBack musclesLow back painMachine learningMagnetic resonance imagingThresholding

Identifiers

PMID38370337
PMCPMC10869289

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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.