Skeletal radiology
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Lumbar paraspinal muscle morphology has recently been evaluated in several studies with conflicting results. Several studies have performed single-slice evaluations of paraspinal muscle morphology, whereas other studies have done a multi-level assessment; this methodological difference might explain the observed different results. Our study evaluated if a single-slice axial measurement is representative of the entire lumbar musculature. ⋯ No single-level FSF or CSA is representative of the whole lumbar spine. A standardized multi-level evaluation of the paraspinal musculature should be used in future research.