Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41783168›Full record

ArticleSurgical neurology international2026

Multilevel congenital lumbar facet joint aplasia presenting with L5-S1 spondylolisthesis in a patient with connective tissue disease.

Victor Hk Lam, Christopher S Lozano, Andrea D Kassay, Yingshi He, Howard J Ginsberg

Abstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Surgical neurology international, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Victor Hk LamTemerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Christopher S LozanoDivision of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Andrea D KassayDivision of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Yingshi HeLi Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Howard J GinsbergDivision of Neurosurgery, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Congenital facet joint agenesis or hypoplasia is rare, with most reported cases limited to unilateral L5-S1 defects. Case Description: A 40-year-old male with features suggestive of skeletal dysplasia (i.e., short stature, congenital coxa vara, and multiple cardiac and orthopedic anomalies) presented with worsening low back pain and right L5 radiculopathy. The magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated L5-S1 spondylolisthesis with right foraminal stenosis. The 3D computed tomography confirmed multiple absent or hypoplastic facet joints from T12 to S1. He underwent a L5-S1 laminectomy, discectomy, with a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Postoperatively, back and leg pain symptoms resolved, and there were no instrument-related complications. Conclusion: This case highlights the congenital absence/hypoplasia of multiple T12-S1 lumbar facet joints, including at the L5S1 level in a patient with likely undiagnosed skeletal dysplasia, successfully managed with a TLIF.

Indexed as

Case reportCongenital anomalyMultilevel absent facet jointsSkeletal dysplasiaSpinal instabilityTransforaminal lumbar interbody fusion

Identifiers

PMID41783168
PMCPMC12954225

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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.