Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40335658›Full record

ArticleEuropean radiology2025

Radiological evaluation and clinical implications of deep learning- and MRI-based synthetic CT for the assessment of cervical spine injuries.

Gregor Fischer, Tom P C Schlosser, Tobias J Dietrich, Olaf Chan-Hi Kim, Vilijam Zdravkovic, Benjamin Martens, Michael G Fehlings, Lennart Jans, Elke Vereecke, Martin N Stienen and 1 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
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In one paragraph

Article in European radiology, 2025. 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

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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.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Gregor FischerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Tom P C SchlosserDepartment of Orthopaedics UMC Utrecht, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Tobias J DietrichRadiology and Nuclear Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Olaf Chan-Hi KimRadiology and Nuclear Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Vilijam ZdravkovicDepartment of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Benjamin MartensSpine Center of Eastern Switzerland, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Michael G FehlingsDivision of Neurosurgery and Spine Program, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Lennart JansDepartment of Radiology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
Elke VereeckeDepartment of Radiology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
Martin N StienenDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Nader HejratiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland. nader.hejrati@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8583-9849

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveEfficient evaluation of soft tissues and bony structures following cervical spine trauma is critical. We sought to evaluate the diagnostic validity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based synthetic CT (sCT) compared with conventional computed tomography (CT) for cervical spine injuries.

methodsIn a prospective, multicenter study, patients with cervical spine injuries underwent CT and MRI within 48 h after injury. A panel of five clinicians independently reviewed the images for diagnostic accuracy, lesion characterization (AO Spine classification), and soft tissue trauma. Fracture visibility, anterior (AVH) and posterior wall height (PVH), vertebral body angle (VBA), segmental kyphosis (SK), with corresponding interobserver reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)) and intermodal differences (Fleiss' Kappa), were recorded. The accuracy of estimating Hounsfield unit (HU) values and mean cortical surface distances were measured.

resultsThirty-seven patients (44 cervical spine fractures) were enrolled. sCT demonstrated a sensitivity of 97.3% for visualizing fractures. Intermodal agreement regarding injury classification indicated almost perfect agreement (κ = 0.922; p < 0.001). Inter-reader ICCs were good to excellent (CT vs. sCT): AVH (0.88, 0.87); PVH (0.87, 0.88); VBA (0.78, 0.76); SK (0.77, 0.93). Intermodal agreement showed a mean absolute difference of 0.3 mm (AVH), 0.3 mm (PVH), 1.15° (VBA) and 0.51° (SK), respectively. MRI visualized additional soft tissue trauma in 56.8% of patients. Voxelwise comparisons of sCT showed good to excellent agreement with CT in terms of HUs (mean absolute error of 20 (SD ± 62)) and a mean absolute cortical surface distance of 0.45 mm (SD ± 0.13).

conclusionsCT is a promising, radiation-free imaging technique for diagnosing cervical spine injuries with similar accuracy to CT. KEY POINTS: Question Assessing the accuracy of MRI-based synthetic CT (sCT) for fracture visualization and classification in comparison to the gold standard of CT for cervical spine injuries. Findings sCT demonstrated a 97.3% sensitivity in detecting fractures and exhibited near-perfect intermodal agreement in classifying injuries according to the AO Spine classification system. Clinical relevance sCT is a promising, radiation-free imaging modality that offers comparable accuracy to CT in visualizing and classifying cervical spine injuries. The combination of conventional MRI sequences for soft tissue evaluation with sCT reconstruction for bone visualization provides comprehensive diagnostic information.

Indexed as

Cervical VertebraeDeep LearningMagnetic Resonance ImagingSpinal FracturesSpinal InjuriesTomography, X-Ray ComputedAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesReproducibility of ResultsSensitivity and SpecificityCervical spine injuriesCTDeep learningFracturessCT

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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.