Spine Atlas

Building a global spine atlas: Pioneering collaborative data calls to advance spine care.

Spine Atlas 2026 Data Call 2026 (DCM)

Case collection: 1 February – 31 May 2026 I Data submission: 1 – 30 June 2026

Mapping Spine treatment Strategies Worldwide

For the first time, spine treatment strategies are being systematically mapped across countries using a harmonised international dataset.

Coordinated by EUROSPINE, the Spine Atlas Initiative (SAI) provides a structured framework that enables hospitals, registries, and spine specialists to contribute comparable data, reveal surgical and non-surgical practice variation, support benchmarking, and strengthen global spine research.

Primary actions:

  • Register for the 2026 DCM Data Call
  • Access Contributor’s Dashboard
  • Explore Results

Why Spine Atlas Matters

Spine treatment strategies vary across healthcare systems, training traditions, reimbursement environments, and regulatory frameworks. Yet internationally harmonised data describing these variations have historically been limited.

The Spine Atlas Initiative addresses this gap by creating a structured international dataset that enables transparent comparison of treatment strategies across countries.

By participating, hospitals and registries contribute to a global evidence base that supports research, benchmarking, and policy discussions in spine care.

Active Data Call – 2026

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM)

The 2026 Spine Atlas data call focuses on treatment strategies and practice variation in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM), including surgical and non-surgical care.

Contributors provide structured case-level data collected during a defined observation period.

Timeline

Phase 1 – Case Collection
1  February – 31  May 2026
Collect all eligible DCM cases treated during this period.

Phase 2 – Data Submission
1 – 30 June 2026
Upload your dataset and complete the contributor survey.

Register to participate.

Why Participate?

Your contribution helps define how DCM is treated internationally — and how your practice compares.

What you gain:

  • International visibility within a EUROSPINE-coordinated initiative
  • Benchmarking against pooled international data
  • Group authorship in key publications
  • Contribution to research, guideline discussions, and health policy
  • Low participation burden (9 mandatory + 7 optional parameters)

Governance and Scientific Collaboration

The Spine Atlas Initiative is coordinated and funded by EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe, and supported by leading international organisations and experts in spine research and registries.

Coordinating Organisation

EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe

Supporting Organisations

European Spine Societies Advisory Board (EUSSAB)
International Spine Registries Working Group
European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS)

Scientific Leadership

The initiative is led by an international steering committee of clinicians, epidemiologists and registry experts.

Principal Investigator
Christian Herrmann, PhD MSc

Explore the full Steering Committee and Country Lead Investigators.

First Results – Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis (2025)

More than 1,600 surgeries from 30 countries have already demonstrated measurable variation in treatment strategies.

Spine Atlas provides structured international evidence where previously only national data existed.

Explore Results

What is Spine Atlas Initiative (SAI)

Inspired by international cancer registration, Spine Atlas is an international epidemiological initiative to visualise spine services and practice variations in spinal care across geographical boundaries.

Who can be part of Spine Atlas?

All units performing spine treatments and all spine registries are invited to participate in the data calls and join the group authorship.

How to be part of Spine Atlas?

The next data call (2026) will be focussing on treatment strategies and variations in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM). Each participating unit is expected to provide 7 mandatory parameters and 7 optional parameters in a structured manner for each patient treated during a four-month period between 1 February and 31 May 2026.  

The call will follow the overall SAI-protocol by Herrmann et al. published 2025 in Brain&Spine and the specifics laid out in the DCM protocol.

First Results on Lumbar Spondylolisthesis Surgery

As part of the Spine Atlas Initiative’s first global data call, spine units worldwide contributed structured information on the surgical management of lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (LDS).
The dataset includes more than 1,600 real-world surgeries from 30 countries, allowing—for the first time—a high-resolution look at how treatment choices differ internationally.

The preliminary analyses show substantial variation in the use of decompression alone versus fusion, influenced by factors such as patient age, patterns of spinal stenosis, and local healthcare systems.

You can watch the presentation recording from EUROSPINE 2025 to explore these preliminary findings. 

Spine Atlas 2026 DCM Data Call Explained – Webinar Series

This three-part webinar series was developed to support contributors and stakeholders participating in the Spine Atlas 2026 DCM data call. The sessions addressed the ethical framework, submission requirements, and practical aspects of contributing high-quality data.

  • Webinar 1 (9 December 2025): Ethics & governance
    Covered the ethical foundations of the initiative, including ethics committee applications, informed consent, and the role of country champions.

  • Webinars 2 & 3 (21 and 28 January 2026): Data call guidance & submission process
    Provided a clear introduction to the Spine Atlas 2026 DCM data call, outlining its goals, scope, expected impact, accepted data formats, quality requirements, submission workflow, timelines, and contributor recognition, followed by a live Q&A. 

    Catch up on the webinar recordings from 21 January and 28 January here!

If you already have a EUROSPINE account, please log in first and then proceed with your registration.

SAI Data Call 2026

Benefits for participants

  • Group authorship in all key publications
  • Being part of a large international network of spine experts and spine units, increasing visibility and which may lead to various research projects and collaborations
  • Benchmarking own data with the pooled data of all other hospitals and countries.
  • Understanding epidemiology and practice variation across countries

Access to international epidemiological data

Visualisation of spine care services

Aims

The Spine Atlas Initiative aims to visualise epidemiology on spine treatments periodically by and across countries, providing a comprehensive view of the global landscape.

I want to be updated on this initiative.

Sign up

Organisation

The Initiative is coordinated and funded by EUROSPINE and will be steered by a Steering Committee with Christian Herrmann leading the project as Principal Investigator (PI).

Christian Herrmann, PhD MSc

Principal Investigator Spine Atlas Initiative, Epidemiology
EUROSPINE, The Spine Society of Europe

spineatlas@eurospine.org 

Sabrina Donzelli, MD MSc 

Clinical research
Chair Spine Tango Committee
Research Director National Scoliosis Center, Fairfax, Virginia, US
President of the International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation

Emin Aghayev, MD MSc 

Medical registries
Senior Advisor Spine Tango
Head Research Development at Lindenhofgruppe

Pierre Côté, MS

Epidemiology
Professor Ontario Tech University Research Excellence
Director, Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Ontario, Canada

Florian Ringel, PhD MD

Neurosurgery, Representative from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) 
Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Mainz
Chairman of the EANS Spine Section, President elect of the German Spine Society

Jarkko Halme, MD

Orthopaedic surgery, International Spine Registries Group Representative
Finnish Spine Registry
President European Spine Society Advisory Board (EuSSAB)

Sashin Ahuja, MD MSc

Orthopaedic surgery, International Spine Registries Group Representative
British Spine Registry

Spine Atlas

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.