Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38554154›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 Society2024

A simple method for the selection of valid spinopelvic parameters and lumbar lordosis in patients with transitional lumbosacral vertebrae.

Ahmet Celal Iplikcioglu, Hamza Karabag

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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, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Radiologic Insights: Diagnosing Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebrae. Systematic Review of the Literature.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ahmet Celal IplikciogluDepartment of Neurosurgery, APEX Medical Center, Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey.
Hamza KarabagDepartment of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Şanlıurfa, Turkey. hamzakarabag@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0001-5571-1326
Harran University · TRMemorial Sisli Hospital · TR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTransitional lumbosacral vertebrae (TLSV) are a congenital anomaly of the lumbosacral region that is characterized by the presence of a vertebra with morphological properties of both the lumbar and sacral vertebrae, with a prevalence of up to 36% in asymptomatic patients and 20% in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients. In patients with TLSV, because of these morphological changes and the different numbers of lumbar vertebrae, there are two optional reference sacral endplates that can be selected intently or inadvertently to measure the spinopelvic parameters: upper and lower endplates. The spinopelvic parameters measured using the upper and lower endplates are significantly different from each other as well as from the normative values. Therefore, the selection of a reference endplate changes the spinopelvic parameters, lumbar lordosis (LL), and surgical goals, which can result in surgical over- or under-correction. Because there is no consensus on the selection of sacral endplate among these patients, it is unclear as to which of these parameters should be used in diagnosis or surgical planning. The present study describes a standardization method for measuring the spinopelvic parameters and LL in patients with TLSV.

methodsUpper and lower endplate spinopelvic parameters (i.e., pelvic incidence [PI], sacral slope [SS], and pelvic tilt) and LL of 108 patients with TLSV were measured by computed tomography. In addition, these parameters were measured for randomly selected subjects without TLSV. The PI value in the TLSV group, which was closer to the mean PI value of the control group, was accepted as valid and then used to create an optimum PI (OPI) group. Finally, the spinopelvic parameters and LL of the OPI and control groups were compared.

resultsExcept for SS, all spinopelvic parameters and LL were comparable between the OPI and control groups. In the OPI group, 60% of the patients showed valid upper endplate parameters, and 40% showed valid lower endplate parameters. No difference was noted in the frequency of valid upper or lower endplates between the sacralization and lumbarization groups. Both the OPI and control groups showed nearly comparable correlations between their individual spinopelvic parameters and LL, except for PI and LL in the former.

conclusionsBecause PI is unique for every individual, the endplate whose PI value is closer to the normative value should be selected as the reference sacral endplate in patients with TLSV.

Indexed as

LordosisLumbar VertebraeAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansLumbosacral RegionMaleMiddle AgedPelvisRadiographySacrumYoung AdultLumbalizationLumbar lordosisPelvic incidencePelvic tiltSacralizationSacral slopeTransitional lumbosacral vertebra

Identifiers

PMID38554154
OpenAlexW4393334688

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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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.