Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40418227›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 Society2025

Bone SPECT/CT in the diagnosis and treatment decision making of axial pain.

Marta Romera, Víctor Rodrigo-Paradells, Nicolás Varela, Edgar F Guillén, Marta Navarro-Astiasarán, Pablo Domínguez-Echavarri, Vicky Betech-Antar, Fernando Mínguez, Andrés Basanta, Juan J Rosales and 1 more

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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, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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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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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

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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

11 authors.

Marta RomeraDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Víctor Rodrigo-ParadellsDepartment of Neurosurgery, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Nicolás VarelaPain Area, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Edgar F GuillénDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Marta Navarro-AstiasaránPain Area, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Pablo Domínguez-EchavarriDepartment of Radiology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Vicky Betech-AntarDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Fernando MínguezDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Andrés BasantaDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Juan J RosalesDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. jrosalesc@unav.es.
Javier ArbizuDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo explore the usefulness of bone SPECT/CT for providing additional information to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in patients with axial pain, and for guiding the site of spinal injections.

methodsWe studied 194 patients with axial pain evaluated with SPECT/CT and MRI. Imaging abnormalities were classified according to location and diagnosis of pain generators. Patient outcomes after SPECT/CT guided spinal injection were evaluated during clinical follow-up. Descriptive analyses and kappa coefficient were performed for facet joint arthropathy detection and degenerative disc disease between imaging modalities.

resultsMRI showed 44.3% more abnormalities than SPECT/CT (329 vs. 228). However, SPECT/CT detected 17% more patients with facet joint arthropathy compared to MRI (43.3% vs. 26.3% respectively). Imaging agreement for diagnosing degenerative disc disease was moderate (κ: 0.44; 95% CI, 0.32-0.56), but only fair for facet joint arthropathy (κ: 0.35; 95% CI, 0.28-0.42). The response to spinal injections guided by SPECT/CT imaging was assessed in 56 patients with facet joint arthropathy. Among these, 26 /56 had a history of previous spinal injections guided by physical examination. In this group, the response was effective or partially effective in 65.4% of patients and ineffective in 34.6%. After a second injection guided by SPECT/CT, the response rate increased to 88.4%, with only 11.6% remaining ineffective, resulting in an absolute benefit of 23.4%. In 30/56 patients with no prior history of spinal injections, the therapy was effective or partially effective in 93.3%, while 6.7% did not show any improvement in pain after SPECT/CT-guided spinal injections.

conclusionBone SPECT/CT imaging complements MRI by providing valuable information to identify pain generators. In facet joint arthropathy, it improves the effectiveness of pain relief when used to guide spinal injections.

Indexed as

Intervertebral Disc DegenerationSingle Photon Emission Computed Tomography Computed TomographyAdultAgedClinical Decision-MakingFemaleHumansInjections, SpinalMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedZygapophyseal JointAxial painBone scanFacet joint arthropathyFacet joint injectionLow back painSPECT/CT

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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.