ArticleGlobal spine journal2021
The Prevalence of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Spinal Cord Compression on Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Article in Global spine journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
101 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 190 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intraoperative neuromonitoring in degenerative cervical myelopathy surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy and postoperative neurological outcomes.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 · 2026Pooled it
- Cervical compressive myelopathy in Africa: a systematic review of clinical presentation, diagnostic pathways, surgical management, and outcomes.BMC neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The significance of metabolic disease in degenerative cervical myelopathy: a systematic review.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Human spinal cord tissue is an underutilised resource in degenerative cervical myelopathy: findings from a systematic review of human autopsies.Acta neurochirurgica · 2023Pooled it
- Virtual reality-based training to augment recovery of hand dexterity after surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Toward the Optimal Way to Assess Symptomatic Fatigue in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Mixed Methods Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Kinematic characteristics of multi-directional reaching movement in degenerative cervical myelopathy.Spinal cord · 2026Article
- Identification, validation, and prediction of longitudinal recovery phenotypes in degenerative cervical myelopathy: analysis of prospective cohorts and a randomised controlled trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- The Longitudinal Changes of Cervical Sagittal Alignment in a Non-surgical Cohort: A 12-Year Longitudinal Study.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Does Early Surgical Treatment in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy Have a Favorable Clinical Outcome and Impact on Quality of Life?Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Diagnostic and Surgical Decision-Making for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Survey With Post-Stratification Analysis.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Early Diagnosis of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence.Global spine journal · 2026Review
- Article
- Healthcare Provider Perspectives of Various Signs and Symptoms for Diagnosing Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of an International, Multidisciplinary Survey.Muscle & nerve · 2026Article
- Clinically-guided models or foundation models? predicting cervical spondylotic myelopathy from electronic health records.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Application and performance of deep learning models for the automated diagnosis of cervical central spinal stenosis on MRI: a systematic review.Brain & spine · 2026Review
- Toward function-oriented, neuroscience-based spine care in older adults: a structured narrative review and translational synthesis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Risk of Cervical Spine Complications in Individuals with Cervical Dystonia Treated with Botulinum Toxin Therapy.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
41 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
designSystematic review and meta-analysis.
objectivesCervical spinal cord compression (SCC) due to degenerative changes of the spine is a frequent finding on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While most people remain asymptomatic, a proportion develop symptoms of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). DCM is an often-progressive neurological disease that can cause quadriplegia. The epidemiology of SCC and DCM is poorly understood. We sought to estimate the prevalence of degenerative cervical SCC and DCM from cross-sectional cohorts undergoing MRI.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of MRI reports on human subjects older than 16 years with degenerative SCC. A predetermined search strategy was used to identify relevant literature on MEDLINE. Title and abstract screenings were followed by full text screening. Data was extracted and analyzed by fixed or random-effects models.
resultsThe present search returned 1506 publications. Following our exclusion criteria, 19 studies were included. Subgroup analysis of 3786 individuals estimated the prevalence of asymptomatic SCC in a healthy population as 24.2% with a significantly higher prevalence of SCC in older populations compared with younger populations and American/European populations compared with Asian populations. Subgroup analysis of 1202 individuals estimated the prevalence of DCM in a healthy population as 2.3%.
conclusionsWe present the first estimates of the prevalence of asymptomatic SCC and DCM. Studies investigating the epidemiology of SCC are heterogeneous in methodology and results. These data indicate the need for more studies into the epidemiology of SCC and DCM performed with consistent methodologies.
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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 Socratic graph.