Effect of experimental cervical spinal cord injury on respiratory function

1974 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Kadoya ◽  
Leo C. Massopust ◽  
L. R. Wolin ◽  
N. Taslitz ◽  
R. J. White

✓ The effect on respiratory function of crushing the C-4 level of the cervical spinal cord was evaluated in monkeys. Spontaneous respiration ceased immediately after the crush due to direct mechanical trauma, but could be recovered provided a respirator was used and certain areas of the anterolateral columns remained intact. This acute respiratory paralysis occurred even in minimally damaged cords in which most of the anterolateral columns were spared, and led to death due to hypoxia if a respirator was not used. The delayed spinal cord swelling due to edema and centrifugal pressure from an expanding central cord lesion gradually caused delayed respiratory paralysis; durotomy relieved the pressure effects and markedly facilitated recovery.

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromitsu Toyoda ◽  
Hiroaki Nakamura ◽  
Sadahiko Konishi ◽  
Hidetomi Terai ◽  
Kunio Takaoka

Object. Although respiratory function is often impaired by acute cervical spinal cord injury, changes in respiratory function in patients with chronic cervical myelopathy (CCM) are not well documented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the respiratory function of patients with CCM. Methods. Spirometric parameters were measured in 94 patients with CCM before they underwent expansive laminoplasty. These measurements were compared with those obtained in age- and sex-matched control group patients without myelopathy. The study patients were also subdivided into two groups: those with spinal compressive lesions above or below the C3–4 disc level were compared in terms of respiratory function. The vital capacity values measured in patients with CCM were significantly lower than those in the control group. In patients in whom spinal cord compression was present above C3–4, vital capacity values were lower than in patients in whom the compression level was below C3–4. The resting respiratory rate per minute was elevated in the CCM group. Peak expiratory flow rate was significantly decreased, and expiratory velocities at 50 and 25% of vital capacity were significantly increased in the CCM group. Conclusions. The results indicated that expiratory flow may be impaired or incomplete in patients with CCM. An underlying subclinical respiratory dysfunction appears to be associated with CCM.


1986 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dumitru ◽  
James E. Lang

✓ A rare case of cruciate paralysis is reported in a 39-year-old man following a motor-vehicle accident. The differentiation of this syndrome from a central cervical spinal cord injury is delineated.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 308-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge E. Collazos-Castro ◽  
Vilma C. Muñetón-Gómez ◽  
Manuel Nieto-Sampedro

Object. The results of olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation have raised great expectations as a potential treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI). Its capacity to promote functional neural repair, however, remains unclear. The authors studied axonal growth and locomotor recovery after C-7 contusion injury and OEC transplantation in adult rats. Methods. Twenty-four male Wistar rats underwent a mild C-7 contusion injury that completely disrupted the dorsal corticospinal tract (DCST). In 14 rats OECs were transplanted into the lesion, and 10 were used as controls. At 3 months postcontusion, the kinematics of locomotion were assessed, and the CST was traced by injecting dextran tetramethylrhodamine bilaterally into the cerebral cortex. The animals were killed 2 weeks after tracer injection, and their spinal cords were studied immunohistochemically. Although the survival of transplanted cells varied, they were present in all cases. The authors observed neither OEC migration nor DCST axon regeneration in any of the cell transplant—treated rats. Corticospinal axons ended in retraction bulbs at the proximal edge of the lesion or, exceptionally, a few micrometers inside the transplant. The results of neurofilament immunohistochemical analysis provided evidence of neurites from systems other than the DCST growing into the transplant, but in some cases these neurites formed loops of pathological appearance. Contusion injury of C-7 caused chronic locomotor deficits that did not improve after OEC transplants. Conclusions. The findings in this study indicate that OEC transplants alone are not sufficient for neural repair and functional recovery after SCI. In addition, OECs can induce abnormal axonal growth, making further studies necessary before considering their clinical use.


2004 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Harrop ◽  
Ashwini D. Sharan ◽  
Edward H. Scheid ◽  
Alexander R. Vaccaro ◽  
Gregory J. Przybylski

Object. The authors sought to identify variables that predispose patients with acute American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Grade A cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) to require tracheostomies for ventilator support or airway protection. Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed of 178 consecutive patients with a cervical ASIA Grade A SCI who were admitted through the Delaware Valley SCI Center at Thomas Jefferson Hospital during a 6-year period. Exclusion criteria included injury occurring more than 48 hours prior to admission, death within 14 days of admission or nontraumatic SCI. Twenty-two patients were excluded based on these criteria. Parameters evaluated in the remaining population (156 patients) included demographics, cervical vertebral ASIA level, tracheostomy placement, pneumonia, premorbid pulmonary disease, smoking history, evidence of direct thoracic/lung trauma, operative intervention, associated appendicular trauma, and preexisting medical comorbidities. The ASIA classification of the 156 patients included in this analysis were C-2 (eight), C-3 (11), C-4 (64), C-5 (36), C-6 (20), C-7 (13), and C-8 (four). Tracheostomies were performed in 107 of these 156 patients. Statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between tracheostomy and patient age (p = 0.0048), preexisting medical conditions (p = 0.0417), premorbid lung disease (p = 0.0177), higher cervical ASIA level (p < 0.0001), and the presence of pneumonia (p < 0.0001). No patient with a C-8 ASIA A injury required tracheostomy, whereas all C-2 and C-3 ASIA A—injured patients underwent tracheostomies. Patients older than 45 years of age with ASIA A levels between C-4 and C-7 more commonly required tracheostomy (p < 0.005) than patients younger than 45 years of age. Conclusions. Several risk factors were identified that corresponded to the frequent tracheostomy placement in the acute injury phase after complete cervical SCI. Early tracheostomy may be considered in patients with multiple risk factors to reduce duration of stay in the intensive care unit and facilitate ventilatory weaning.


1980 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michinori Ottomo ◽  
Robert F. Heimburger

✓ Alternating Horner's sign and hyperhidrosis appeared in this patient 8 years after a spinal cord injury at C6–7. An intramedullary cyst was suspected but was not found at operation. There was a striking improvement in both symptoms after adhesions between the spinal cord and the dura mater were freed.


1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf I. Steudel ◽  
William Ingunza

✓ The authors describe a unique case in which a bullet was lodged in the spinal canal at the C2–3 level. The patient exhibited clinically the syndrome of acute central cervical spinal cord injury. The pathogenesis is discussed with reference to three similar cases in the literature.


2003 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Ichihara ◽  
Toshihiko Taguchi ◽  
Itsuo Sakuramoto ◽  
Shunichi Kawano ◽  
Shinya Kawai

Object. The authors have previously investigated the mechanical properties of the white and gray matter in the bovine cervical spinal cord, demonstrating that the gray matter is more rigid, although more fragile, than the white matter. In the present study they conducted additional tensile tests on the bovine cervical spinal cord by changing strain levels and strain rates applied to the white and gray matter. Methods. Based on their testing, the authors found the following: 1) Stress within the spinal cord relaxes over time. 2) Intracord stress is related to the strain rates or levels. The finite element method was used to compute the stress distribution within the spinal cord under three compressive loading conditions. Results from the computations showed a different stress distribution in the white and gray matter, where the distribution of stress varied with strain rate, compression volume, and the position of compression. Conclusions. These differences in mechanical properties between the white and gray matter constitute different mechanisms contributing to the development of tissue damage and clinical symptoms.


1994 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Constantini ◽  
Wise Young

✓ Recent clinical trials have reported that methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MP) or the monosialic ganglioside GM1 improves neurological recovery in human spinal cord injury. Because GM1 may have additive or synergistic effects when used with MP, the authors compared MP, GM1, and MP+GM1 treatments in a graded rat spinal cord contusion model. Spinal cord injury was caused by dropping a rod weighing 10 gm from a height of 1.25, 2.5, or 5.0 cm onto the rat spinal cord at T-10, which had been exposed via laminectomy. The lesion volumes were quantified from spinal cord Na and K shifts at 24 hours after injury and the results were verified histologically in separate experiments. A single dose of MP (30 mg/kg), given 5 minutes after injury, reduced 24-hour spinal cord lesion volumes by 56% (p = 0.0052), 28% (p = 0.0065), and 13% (p > 0.05) in the three injury-severity groups, respectively, compared to similarly injured control groups treated with vehicle only. Methylprednisolone also prevented injury-induced hyponatremia and increased body weight loss in the spine-injured rats. When used alone, GM1 (10 to 30 mg/kg) had little or no effect on any measured variable compared to vehicle controls; when given concomitantly with MP, GM1 blocked the neuroprotective effects of MP. At a dose of 3 mg/kg, GM1 partially prevented MP-induced reductions in lesion volumes, while 10 to 30 mg/kg of GM1 completely blocked these effects of MP. The effects of MP on injury-induced hyponatremia and body weight loss were also blocked by GM1. Thus, GM1 antagonized both central and peripheral effects of MP in spine-injured rats. Until this interaction is clarified, the authors recommend that MP and GM1 not be used concomitantly to treat acute human spinal cord injury. Because GM1 modulates protein kinase activity, protein kinases inhibit lipocortins, and lipocortins mediate anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids, it is proposed that the neuroprotective effects of MP are partially due to anti-inflammatory effects and that GM1 antagonizes the effects of MP by inhibiting lipocortin. Possible beneficial effects of GM1 reported in central nervous system injury may be related to the effects on neural recovery rather than acute injury processes.


1973 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cully Cobb ◽  
George Ehni

✓ The authors describe a case in which the cervical spinal cord became incarcerated in the mouth of an iatrogenic meningocele or “pseudocyst.”


1984 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald W. J. Ford ◽  
David N. Malm

✓ Hypocarbia, normocarbia, or hypercarbia was maintained for an 8-hour period beginning 30 minutes after acute threshold spinal cord injuries in cats. No statistically significant differences in neurological recovery or histologically assessed tissue preservation were found among the three groups of animals 6 weeks after injury. No animal recovered the ability to walk. It is concluded that maintenance of hypercarbia or hypocarbia during the early postinjury period is no more therapeutic than maintenance of normocarbia. Mortality rates and tissue preservation data suggest, however, that postinjury hypocarbia may be less damaging than hypercarbia.


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