Evidence mapPaperPMID 41010680Full record

ReviewJournal of clinical medicine2025

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Assessment of Bone Quality Using Vertebral Bone Quality (VBQ) Scores in Spine Surgery-A Critical Assessment and Narrative Review.

Adeesya Gausper, Wende N Gibbs, Benjamin D Elder, Justin K Scheer, Tiffany G Perry, Suhas K Etigunta, Andy M Liu, Alexander Tuchman, Corey T Walker

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of clinical medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. SBMC surgery · 2026
    Article
  2. 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

9 authors.

Adeesya GausperDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-6548-3354
Wende N GibbsDepartment of Neuroradiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6493-1942
Benjamin D ElderDepartment of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Justin K ScheerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2536-601X
Tiffany G PerryDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6661-2729
Suhas K EtiguntaDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Andy M LiuDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Alexander TuchmanDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8419-3134
Corey T WalkerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4334-7306

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bone health is a key determinant of success in spine surgery, making preoperative assessment of bone quality essential to optimal surgical risk stratification. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score offers a novel approach to assess bone health in spine surgery candidates. The ability of MRI to assess bone quality without exposure to ionizing radiation makes it a potentially advantageous alternative to other traditional measures of bone density. VBQ has additionally shown potential to predict adverse outcomes, such as fragility fractures, instrumentation failure, subsidence and proximal junctional kyphosis. Variations of VBQ, such as endplate bone quality, S1 VBQ, and cervical VBQ, provide targeted insights at specific anatomical regions and potentially enhance the predictive accuracy of VBQ. However, clinical application of VBQ is limited by variability in MRI systems, patient-specific factors, and lack of standardized threshold values. This review aims to critically evaluate VBQ scores as an opportunistic, MRI-based assessment of bone health and its potential role in predicting surgical outcomes. While VBQ may provide some valuable insights into bone health, its role in preoperative risk assessment likely remains supplementary and requires further research to establish clinical validity and optimal cutoffs.

Indexed as

bone healthfragility fractureinstrumentation failuresubsidencevertebral bone quality

Identifiers

PMID41010680
PMCPMC12471176

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.