Fat matters: paraspinal muscle quality is associated with electromyographic fatigability and endurance in lumbar spinal stenosis
David Koch, Corina Nüesch, Gerold Müller, Peter Stauffert, Annegret Mündermann, Alice Caimi, Dominika Ignasiak, Stefan Schären, Stephen J Ferguson, Hans-Joachim Wilke, Cordula Netzer · 2026
Read Fat matters: paraspinal muscle quality is associated with electromyographic fatigability and endurance in lumbar spinal stenosis by David Koch, Corina Nüesch, Gerold Müller, Peter Stauffert, Annegret Mündermann, Alice Caimi, Dominika Ignasiak, Stefan Schären, Stephen J Ferguson, Hans-Joachim Wilke, Cordula Netzer (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13486842.txt.
Description
David Koch and co-authors show that fatty back muscles tire faster in patients with narrowed spinal canals, whatever the muscles' size, in a 2026 study. One hundred five patients awaiting surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis took MRI scans and a back endurance test while sensors read their muscle signals. Machine learning segmentation measured fat share and cross-section in the deep back muscles at three spine levels.
Fat share ran high, near half in the multifidus, and climbed down the spine in the erector muscles. More fat meant shorter endurance, with correlations in the moderate range. In adjusted models, fat share predicted how fast the signal frequency sagged with effort, while muscle size mostly did not. The authors conclude that muscle quality, not quantity, tracks fatigability, and may help explain these patients' activity limits.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | David Koch, Corina Nüesch, Gerold Müller, Peter Stauffert, Annegret Mündermann, Alice Caimi, Dominika Ignasiak, Stefan Schären, Stephen J Ferguson, Hans-Joachim Wilke, Cordula Netzer |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 49 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |