ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2026
Thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum in elite athletes: a case series with surgical outcomes and return-to-play profiles.
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, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWe aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, diagnostic features, surgical management, and return-to-play outcomes of thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) in elite athletes.
methodsTen elite athletes (mean age 31.3 [range 19-47] years) with symptomatic thoracic OLF underwent posterior decompression without fusion between 2012 and 2024. Demographic data, neurological findings, imaging characteristics, surgical details, the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) recovery rate, and return-to-play timelines were retrospectively analyzed. The sharpened Romberg test (SRT) was performed for all patients.
resultsMyelopathy was the predominant presentation (n = 8), although symptoms were frequently unilateral and atypical. All patients showed positive Sharpened Romberg findings despite high athletic function. Lesions commonly involved the lower thoracic spine. Up to two-thirds (unilateral) or one-half (bilateral) facetectomy was required in several patients. No patients required fusion. The mean preoperative and postoperative modified JOA scores for thoracic myelopathy were 7.2 ± 1.8 and 10.2 ± 1.2, respectively (p = 0.015). The median recovery rate was 88.5% (interquartile range 78-100%). All athletes returned to sport, with baseball pitchers resuming mound activity at a mean of 10.8 weeks. Postoperative computed tomography at 1 year showed facet remodeling without OLF recurrence.
conclusionThoracic OLF can affect elite athletes and present with atypical symptoms. The SRT may assist in early detection. In our cohort, fusion was not required; anatomically precise posterior decompression without fusion appeared sufficient to enable a safe return to high-level competition.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41324676What 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.