Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40837288›Full record

ReviewSurgical neurology international2025

Updated review of cervical white cord syndrome (WCS)/reperfusion injury (RI); A "diagnosis of inclusion" requiring magnetic resonance (MR) confirmation, not just a "clinical diagnosis".

Nancy E Epstein, Marc A Agulnick

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Surgical neurology international, 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

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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

2 authors.

Nancy E EpsteinProfessor of Clinical Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, State University of NY at Stony Brook, NY, c/o Dr. Marc Agulnick, Spine Care Specialists, 1122 Franklin Avenue Suite 106, Garden City, NY 11530, USA and Editor-in-Chief Surgical Neurology International.
Marc A AgulnickDepartment of Orthopedics, NYU Langone Hospital Long Island, Dr. Marc Agulnick, Spine Care Specialists, 1122 Franklin Avenue, Suite 106, Garden City, NY, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The Cervical White Cord Syndrome (WCS)/Reperfusion Injury (RI) rarely causes new major postoperative neurological deficits, and is attributed to the rapid surgical decompression of a chronically compressed/ischemic cord. Never a diagnosis based on "clinical judgment" alone, the WCS/RI is a Methods: Most frequently, postoperative MR studies in newly paretic/injured patients following cervical operations will show evidence of direct intraoperative ("iatrogenic") spinal cord injury. Less frequently, findings may include new non-operative vs. operative pathology (i.e., hematomas/hematomyelia, graft extrusions/malpositioning, new/residual/recurrent disc/stenosis/Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament (OPLL), and other pathology). Results: WCS/RI after cervical spine surgery is extremely rare, being reported in only 17 cases as of 2020, and cannot be diagnosed based on "clinical judgment" alone; rather, it requires a STAT corroborate postoperative MR to demonstrate the classical "white cord". However, most likely postoperative MR studies document "iatrogenic" cord injuries, and less likely show new non-surgical and/or new surgical compressive pathology warranting reoperations to remediate the extent/severity of neurological injuries. Conclusion: The postoperative diagnosis of WCS/RI should never be established based on "clinical judgment alone". Rather, WCS/RI is a

Indexed as

Anterior Cervical Diskectomy/Fusion (ACDF)Anterior SurgeryCervical Spine SurgeryCervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM)Diagnosis of ExclusionDiagnosis of InclusionMandatory Postoperative MR ScansOutcomesPosterior SurgeryReperfusion injury (RI)White cord syndrome (WCS)

Identifiers

PMID40837288
PMCPMC12361648

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Registered trials

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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.