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
Comparative analysis of the correlation between paraspinal muscles fat infiltration and vertebral bone quality in patients with lumbar degenerative diseases.
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 3 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Magnetic resonance imaging-derived vertebral bone quality correlates with computed tomography-derived bone density and paraspinal muscle degeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Asian spine journal · 2026Article
- Research progress of diffusion tensor imaging in lumbar degenerative diseases: a narrative review.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Review
- Fatty infiltration of the gluteus medius and minimus muscles: volumetric analysis of both hips in patients with unilateral greater trochanteric pain syndrome using 2-point-Dixon MRI.Insights into imaging · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the association between paraspinal muscle fat infiltration (FI) and three MRI-based vertebral bone quality indicators-Vertebral Bone Quality (VBQ), Modified VBQ (MVBQ), and Endplate Bone Quality (EBQ)-in patients with lumbar degenerative diseases (LDD), and to compare their diagnostic and prognostic implications.
methodsA retrospective analysis included 261 patients undergoing transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) for LDD. Paraspinal muscle parameters-total cross-sectional area (TCSA), functional CSA (FCSA), relative FCSA (rFCSA), and fat infiltration rate (FIR)-were obtained from preoperative MRI. VBQ, MVBQ, and EBQ scores were also calculated. Patients were stratified into high and low FI groups based on FIR quartiles. Correlation and multivariable regression analyses were performed, and diagnostic performance was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, Clinical outcomes (Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)) were followed up for 2 years.
resultsPatients with high FI exhibited significantly elevated VBQ (3.41 vs. 3.01, p < 0.001), MVBQ (3.47 vs. 2.91, p < 0.001), and EBQ (3.31 vs. 2.97, p = 0.001) scores compared to the normal FI group. FIR correlated positively with all bone quality indices, with the strongest association for MVBQ (r = 0.432, p < 0.001). MVBQ demonstrated superior diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.70) compared to VBQ (AUC = 0.64) and EBQ (AUC = 0.53). At 2-year follow-up, high FI patients had worse ODI scores (11.61 vs. 10.57, p = 0.031), though no differences in VAS were observed.
conclusionOur study established a significant association between paraspinal muscles FI and the bone quality of various regions of the vertebrae, as well as prognosis undergoing surgery for LDD patients. MVBQ may serve as a reliable and practical preoperative marker for musculoskeletal degeneration in patients with LDD, guiding individualized risk stratification and rehabilitation planning.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40659966What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.