Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39119364›Full record

ArticleHippokratia

T2 mapping of lumbar intervertebral disc: quantitative evaluation of degeneration in relation to Pfirrmann grading system and a template for intervertebral disc segmentation.

D E Stefanou, G Velonakis, E Karavasilis, G Argyropoulos, A Kelekis, N Kelekis, D Filippiadis

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Hippokratia. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Intervertebral disc degeneration.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  4. 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

7 authors.

D E Stefanou2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
G Velonakis2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
E Karavasilis2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
G Argyropoulos2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
A Kelekis2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
N Kelekis2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.
D Filippiadis2 Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Athens.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: To assess the feasibility of using T2 relaxation time mapping at 3 Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detection and classification of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration, introducing an objective model of disc segmentation for accurate disc assessment. Materials and Methods: The present study is a single-center prospective evaluation including 185 lumbar intervertebral discs from a cohort of 37 patients with chronic lower back pain. For the quantitative classification of disc degeneration, three regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn on T2 maps, and the Pfirrmann grading system was used for qualitative assessment. Intergroup evaluation was performed with paired t-tests. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean value of T2 mapping, and Tukey's multiple comparison test was applied to determine differences in mean values of T2 mapping among the Pfirrmann categories. Results: The ANOVA test analysis of ROIs showed that there is a statistically significant difference (p <0.001) among average T2 relaxation time mapping values in different Pfirrmann score groups, and Tukey's multiple comparison tests revealed that mean values of T2 map among the different grades of Pfirrmann differ from the rest (p <0.001) except grade V. Paired t-tests revealed significant differences in mean values of T2 map between different ROIs. Conclusion: This study showed that quantitative T2 mapping of the lumbar intervertebral discs at 3T MRI may overcome the subjective element of qualitative classification systems for degenerative intervertebral disc disease. Also, a new template of disc segmentation with more ROIs would be more sensitive for the assessment of disc degeneration. HIPPOKRATIA 2023, 27 (2):75-81.

Indexed as

intervertebral disc degenerationintervertebral disc segmentationmagnetic resonance imagingMRI spinePfirrmann scoreT2 mapping

Identifiers

PMID39119364
PMCPMC11305159

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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.