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
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of paraspinal muscles for assessing chronic non-specific low back pain in young adults: a prospective case-control study.
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 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Paraspinal muscle quality in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of muscle atrophy and fat infiltration.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 · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- Quantitative MRI assessment of paraspinal muscles and the psoas: associations with low back pain.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Tuina therapy for chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomized clinical trial protocol.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Development and reliability of a systematic method to evaluate lumbar paraspinal muscle size and quality in computed tomography images.North American Spine Society journal · 2025Article
- MRI Analysis of Paraspinal Muscle Morphology in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case-Control Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Radiological frontiers in understanding paraspinal muscle pathophysiology in chronic low back pain.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
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7 authors.
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Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to investigate the application of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of paraspinal muscles in assessing the young CNLBP with unilateral symptom.
methodsThis prospective study enrolled 107 young individuals with unilateral symptomatic CNLBP (56 cases) and a normal cohort (51 cases). All subjects underwent conventional lumbar sequences, T2 mapping, and IDEAL-IQ scans at 3T. T2 values and fat fraction (FF) of bilateral multifidus (mid-levels of L2-L5 vertebrae) and erector spinae (mid-levels of L1-L4 vertebrae) were measured. CNLBP severity, Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score were recorded. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare parameter differences between painful and non-painful sides in the case group. Mann-Whitney U tests were employed to evaluate differences between the case and normal group. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify predictive factors and to establish a combined model.
resultsIn the case group, erector spinae FF values (L4 level), erector spinae T2 values (L1, L2, and L4 levels), and multifidus T2 values (L4 and L5 levels) were higher on the painful side (P<0.05). Multifidus T2 values (L5 level) and FF values (L2-L5 levels) were higher in the case group compared to the normal group (P<0.05). The optimal performance in differentiating young CNLBP was the combination of L5 level multifidus T2 value with FF (AUC = 91.81%). Negative correlation existed between T2 values and FF of multifidus at L5 level and JOA scores (r=-0.41, P < 0.05), and positive correlation with VAS scores (r = 0.46, P < 0.05).
conclusionThe combination of T2 value and FF may provide deeper insights into the pathological alterations of paraspinal muscles in young CNLBP, providing an important imaging basis for clinical judgment and preventive treatment of non-painful side in unilateral symptomatic patients.
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