International Spinal Cord Injury Data Sets

STUDY DESIGN: Discussion and development of final consensus. OBJECTIVE: Present the background, purpose, and process for the International Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Data Sets development. SETTING: International. METHODS: An international meeting on SCI data collection and analysis occurred at a workshop on May 2, 2002, before the combined meeting of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At this meeting, a process was developed for selection of data elements to be included in International SCI Data Sets. RESULTS: An overall structure and terminology has been developed following the format of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). This includes definitions of the Core Data Set, as well as Modules with Basic Questions or Data Sets and Expanded Data Sets. The Core Data Set has been developed and will be presented separately. Working groups for additional modules are being established as well as general guidelines for the development of the modules. CONCLUSION: The presented format should help in developing data sets and modules within various topics related to SCI.     

Dietetics After Spinal Cord Injury: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives

Following spinal cord injury (SCI), individuals are at high risk for obesity and several chronic cardiometabolic disorders due to a deterioration in body composition, hypometabolic rate, and endometabolic dysregulation. Countermeasures to the consequences of an SCI include adopting a healthy diet that provides adequate nutrition to maintain good body habitus and cardiometabolic health. A proper diet for individuals with SCI should distribute carbohydrates, protein, and fat to optimize a lower energy intake requirement and should stress foods with low caloric yet high nutrient density. The purpose of this article is to present available evidence on how nutritional status after SCI should advance future research to further develop SCI-specific guidelines for total energy intake, as it relates to percent carbohydrates, protein, fat, and all vitamins and minerals, that take into consideration the adaptations after SCI.     

脊髓损伤大鼠脊髓组织的病理形态学观察

目的：研究脊髓损伤（SCI）用高压氧（HBO）处理后脊髓的病理学变化。方法：用SD大鼠复制SCI模型，0．1MPa和0．25MPaHBO处理后，取损伤脊髓作HE染色。结果：正常对照组脊髓结构完整，细胞形态正常，分布均匀，胞膜，胞核正常，组织间隙正常，单纯损伤组示组织出血，疏松水肿，细胞空泡变性，神经纤维溶解，消失；处理后，0．25MPaHBO组及0．25MPaHBO＋激素（L，M）组脊髓恢复最明显，组织水肿，细胞空泡变性减轻，细胞形态恢复，结构排列完整，结论：HBO治疗可明显阻止或减轻脊髓损伤的病理变化，有利于脊髓功能的恢复。     

Spinal Myoclonus After Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Background/Objective: In the course of examining spinal motor function in many hundreds of people with traumatic spinal cord injury, we encountered 6 individuals who developed involuntary and rhythmic contractions in muscles of their legs. Although there are many reports of unusual muscle activation patterns associated with different forms of myoclonus, we believe that certain aspects of the patterns seen with these 6 subjects have not been previously reported. These patterns share many features with those associated with a spinal central pattern generator for walking.

Methods: Subjects in this case series had a history of chronic injury to the cervical spinal cord, resulting in either complete (ASIA A; n = 4) or incomplete (ASIA D; n = 2) quadriplegia. We used multi-channel electromyography recordings of trunk and leg muscles of each subject to document muscle activation patterns associated with different postures and as influenced by a variety of sensory stimuli.

Results: Involuntary contractions spanned multiple leg muscles bilaterally, sometimes including weak abdominal contractions. Contractions were smooth and graded and were highly reproducible in rate for a given subject (contraction rates were 0.3-0.5 Hz). These movements did not resemble the brief rapid contractions (ie, "jerks") ascribed to some forms of spinal myoclonus. For all subjects, the onset of involuntary muscle contraction was dependent upon hip angle; contractions did not occur unless the hips (and knees) were extended (ie, subjects were supine). In the 4 ASIA A subjects, contractions occurred simultaneously in all muscles (agonists and antagonists) bilaterally. In sharp contrast, contractions in the 2 ASIA D subjects were reciprocal between agonists and antagonists within a limb and alternated between limbs, such that movements in these 2 subjects looked just like repetitive stepping. Finally, each of the 6 subjects had a distinct pathology of their spinal cord, nerve roots, distal trunk, or thigh; in 4 of these subjects, treatment of the pathology eliminated the involuntary movements.

Conclusion: The timing, distribution, and reliance upon hip angle suggest that these movement patterns reflect some elements of a central pattern generator for stepping. Emergence of these movements in persons with chronic spinal cord injury is extremely rare and appears to depend upon a combination of the more rostrally placed injury and a pathologic process leading to a further enhancement of excitability in the caudal spinal cord.     

脊柱外伤的MRI表现

本文报告了50例急、慢性脊柱外伤病人MRI的检查结果,描述了15例急性期脊髓损伤后水肿和出血的MRI信号改变和35例慢性期脊髓损伤后脊髓囊变、纤维化和脊髓萎缩的MR信号改变。探讨不同MR信号与预后的关系。