ArticleQuantitative imaging in medicine and surgery2026
Quantitative MRI assessment of paraspinal muscles and the psoas: associations with low back pain.
Article in Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Paraspinal muscle degeneration patterns in degenerative spinal deformity: a histological, morphological, and muscle functional comparison.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, yet the contribution of paraspinal muscle fat infiltration remains uncertain. This study aimed to quantitatively assess paraspinal muscle fat fraction using the Iterative Decomposition of water and fat with Echo Asymmetry and Least-squares estimation for Imaging Quantification (IDEAL-IQ) sequence in patients with LBP and to explore its relationships with pain severity, disability, and demographic factors such as age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 124 patients (64 males, 60 females; mean age, 38.3±12.6 years). Fat fraction values of the multifidus, erector spinae, and psoas muscles were measured bilaterally at L1-L2 through L4-L5 levels using IDEAL-IQ. Pain and disability were assessed with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine associations, adjusting for age, sex, and BMI. Interobserver agreement between two radiologists was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Women demonstrated consistently higher muscle fat fractions than men across all lumbar levels. In females, multifidus fat fraction ranged from 10.1% to 10.5% ( Conclusions: Quantitative assessment of paraspinal muscles and the psoas muscle fat fraction using IDEAL-IQ revealed significant associations with pain severity and disability, independent of demographic factors. If validated by larger prospective studies, incorporating IDEAL-IQ sequences into routine lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols and reporting paraspinal muscle fat fraction may contribute to a more comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of patients with LBP.
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