Electrospinogram and spinal and cortical evoked potentials in experimental spinal cord trauma

1975 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 737-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Morrison ◽  
Ronald J. Lorig ◽  
Jerald S. Brodkey ◽  
Frank E. Nulsen

✓ Studies in 28 traumatized cats showed the following acute changes after spinal cord compression in the cord segment below the trauma: 1) increase in size of the spinal cord evoked potential; 2) increase in size of the electrospinogram; and 3) increase in frequency of the electrospinogram.

1972 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Croft ◽  
Jerald S. Brodkey ◽  
Frank E. Nulsen

✓ Cortical evoked potentials in anesthetized cats were recorded by a noninvasive averaging technique as a means of estimating spinal cord damage. Graded pressure on the spinal cord produced reversible blocking of these potentials. With this type of trauma, block of motor transmission through the cord paralleled the block of sensory transmission, and each seemed to be a sensitive indicator of spinal cord function. The possible use of such monitoring in anesthetized patients undergoing spinal operations is discussed.


1975 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdel A. Ammoumi ◽  
Joanna H. Sher ◽  
Daniel Schmelka

✓ The authors report a patient with sickle cell anemia who suffered from paraplegia of 18 months duration due to spinal cord compression by a hemopoietic mass. Recovery following removal of the mass was complete.


1995 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Porter ◽  
Andrew J. Martin ◽  
Conor L. Mallucci ◽  
Catherine N. Makunura ◽  
H. Ian Sabin

✓ The authors present the case of spinal cord compression in a 16-year-old boy due to the rare vascular lesion, Masson's vegetant hemangioendothelioma.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Shields ◽  
Y. Ping Zhang ◽  
Lisa B. E. Shields ◽  
Yingchun Han ◽  
Darlene A. Burke ◽  
...  

Object. There are no clinically based guidelines to direct the spine surgeon as to the proper timing to undertake decompression after spinal cord injury (SCI) in patients with concomitant stenosis-induced cord compression. The following three factors affect the prognosis: 1) severity of SCI; 2) degree of extrinsic spinal cord compression; and 3) duration of spinal cord compression. Methods. To elucidate further the relationship between varying degrees of spinal stenosis and a mild contusion-induced SCI (6.25 g-cm), a rat SCI/stenosis model was developed in which 1.13- and 1.24-mm-thick spacers were placed at T-10 to create 38 and 43% spinal stenosis, respectively. Spinal cord damage was observed after the stenosis—SCI that was directly proportional to the duration of spinal cord compression. The therapeutic window prior to decompression was 6 and 12 hours in the 43 and 38% stenosis—SCI lesions, respectively, to maintain locomotor activity. A significant difference in total lesion volume was observed between the 2-hour and the delayed time(s) to decompression (38% stenosis—SCI, 12 and 24 hours, p < 0.05; 43% stenosis—SCI, 24 hours, p < 0.05) indicating a more favorable neurological outcome when earlier decompression is undertaken. This finding was further supported by the animal's ability to support weight when decompression was performed by 6 or 12 hours compared with 24 hours after SCI. Conclusions. Analysis of the findings in this study suggests that early decompression in the rat improves locomotor function. Prolongation of the time to decompression may result in irreversible damage that prevents locomotor recovery.


1991 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Papadopoulos ◽  
Curtis A. Dickman ◽  
Volker K. H. Sonntag

✓ Atlantoaxial subluxation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is common. Operative stabilization is clearly indicated when signs and symptoms of spinal cord compression occur. However, many recommend early operative fusion before evidence of appreciable neural compression occurs because 1) the myelopathy in these patients may be irreversible; 2) the overall prognosis is poor once symptoms of cord compression are present; and 3) the risk of sudden death associated with atlantoaxial subluxation is increased even in asymptomatic patients. The authors believe that rheumatoid arthritis patients in relatively good health without advanced multisystem disease and less than 65 years of age should be considered for operative stabilization if mobile atlantoaxial subluxation is greater than 6 mm. Seventeen patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis and atlantoaxial subluxation treated with a posterior arthrodesis are presented. A new method of fusion, devised by the senior author (V.K.H.S.), was utilized in all cases. Indications for operative therapy in these patients included evidence of spinal cord compression in 11 patients (65%) and mobile atlantoaxial subluxation greater than 6 mm but no signs or symptoms of cord compression in six patients (35%). Thirteen patients developed a stable osseous fusion, two patients a well-aligned fibrous union, one patient a malaligned fibrous union, and one patient died prior to evaluation of fusion stability. The details of the operative technique and management strategies are presented. Several technical advantages of this method of fusion make this approach particularly useful in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Because of multisystem involvement of this disease, a high rate of osseous fusion is often difficult to achieve.


1974 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanford J. Larson ◽  
Anthony Sances ◽  
Donald H. Riegel ◽  
Glenn A. Meyer ◽  
Donald E. Dallmann ◽  
...  

✓ In 18 patients with cancer and intractable pain, capacitatively coupled pulses of 0.25 msec duration were delivered transcutaneously at 100 Hz to sets of five in-line electrodes implanted subdurally over the dorsal columns. Averaged somatosensory-evoked potentials were recorded from scalp electrodes before, during, and after application of current. All but one patient experienced relief of pain during stimulation, persisting for as long as several hours afterward. Eleven patients developed hyperactive deep reflexes, pathological reflexes, and decreased perception of joint rotation, pain, and touch below the level of current application. Somatosensory-evoked potential amplitudes were markedly reduced. All neurological findings returned to control values within 1 hour after each of repeated applications of current. Histological examination of spinal cord sections from four cancer patients showed no changes secondary to long-term current application. Similar currents were applied to the spinal cord of 15 monkeys with chronically implanted bipolar recording or stimulating electrodes over the lower, middle, and upper thoracic cord, in nucleus ventralis posterior lateralis (VPL), and over the sensory motor cortex (SMC). With application of current, the responses in VPL and SMC to peripheral stimulation were abolished. Evoked potential responses were abolished between bipolar stimulating electrodes and bipolar recording electrodes separated by the five in-line electrodes used to supply the 100 Hz current. However, when both stimulating and recording electrodes were either above or below the five in-line electrode set, evoked responses were unaffected. The findings indicate that applied currents blocked neuronal transmission by producing local changes in the cord. The prolonged alteration of cerebral evoked potentials and relief of pain, however, could also be related to involvement of supraspinal neurons.


1983 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 580-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry J. Leaney ◽  
James M. Calvert

✓ A case of thoracic paraplegia secondary to extradural tophaceous gout is presented. The ability of gout to compromise bone elements, periarticular tissues, and neural elements in the vertebral column is discussed.


1979 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugen J. Dolan ◽  
Charles H. Tator

✓ A new method is described for the determination of force-distance curves for aneurysm clips. A dissecting microscope with a goniometer eyepiece was used to determine the angle between the clip blades as various forces were applied to open the clip. The cosine law was then used to calculate the force-distance curves. The method allows accurate characterization of different clips and is especially useful for the early detection of clip weakening.


1992 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. John Hurlbert ◽  
Charles H. Tator ◽  
Michael G. Fehlings ◽  
Greg Niznik ◽  
R. Dean Linden

✓ Although the assessment of spinal cord function by electrophysiological techniques has become important in both clinical and research environments, current monitoring methods do not completely evaluate all tracts in the spinal cord. Somatosensory and motor evoked potentials primarily reflect dorsal column and pyramidal tract integrity, respectively, but do not directly assess the status of the ventral funiculus. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the use of evoked potentials, elicited by direct cerebellar stimulation, in monitoring the ventral component of the rodent spinal cord. Twenty-nine rats underwent epidural anodal stimulation directly over the cerebellar cortex, with recording of evoked responses from the lower thoracic spinal cord, both sciatic nerves, and/or both gastrocnemius muscles. Stimulation parameters were varied to establish normative characteristics. The pathways conducting these “posterior fossa evoked potentials” were determined after creation of various lesions of the cervical spinal cord. The evoked potential recorded from the thoracic spinal cord consisted of five positive (P1 to P5) and five negative (N1 to N5) peaks. The average conduction velocity (± standard deviation) of the earliest wave (P1) was 53 ± 4 m/sec, with a latency of 1.24 ± 0.10 msec. The other components followed within 4 msec from stimulus onset. Unilateral cerebellar stimulation resulted in bilateral sciatic nerve and gastrocnemius muscle responses; there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the thresholds, amplitudes, or latencies of these responses elicited by right- versus left-sided stimulation. Recordings performed following creation of selective lesions of the cervical cord indicated that the thoracic response was carried primarily in the ventral funiculus while the sciatic and gastrocnemius responses were mediated through the dorsal half of the spinal cord. It is concluded that the posterior fossa evoked potential has research value as a method of monitoring pathways within the ventral spinal cord of the rat, and should be useful in the study of spinal cord injury.


1989 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 688-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. R. Sanderson ◽  
Jon Pritchard ◽  
Henry T. Marsh

✓ During a 12-month trial period, all children attending the Hospitals for Sick Children, London, England, for management of spinal cord compression due to disseminated neuroblastoma were given chemotherapy as initial treatment rather than radiotherapy or laminectomy. Response to treatment was evaluated by a neurosurgeon as well as by oncologists. Four children were treated in this way and all made a full recovery of spinal cord function.


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