Spinal cord
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A magnetic resonance imaging technique that enables indirect detection of neuronal activity has been developed for the spinal cord. In the present study, this method, spinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), is applied to the first study of the injured spinal cord, with the goal of better clinical assessment of the entire cord. ⋯ This work was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
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Comparative Study
Post-traumatic moderate systemic hypothermia reduces TUNEL positive cells following spinal cord injury in rat.
A standardized animal model of contusive spinal cord injury (SCI) with incomplete paraplegia was used to test the hypothesis that moderate systemic hypothermia reduces neural cell death. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase [TdT]-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate [dUTP] nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining was used as a marker of apoptosis or cell damage. ⋯ These results indicate that systemic hypothermia has a neuroprotective effect following SCI by attenuating post-traumatic TPC.
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Case report. ⋯ In spinal cord-injured patients with severe spasticity, who become tolerant to intrathecal baclofen, treatment with intrathecal morphine may be useful.
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Comparative Study
Reliability of perioperative SSEP recordings in spine surgery.
The reproducibility and clinical reliability of perioperative somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEP) were prospectively evaluated in uneventful scoliosis surgery. The influence of anesthesia owing to induction of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) upon preoperative SSEP and the variability of intraoperative SSEP were calculated. The potential effect of spine surgery was assessed by comparing pre- to postoperative SSEP. ⋯ By using a standardized anesthesia protocol, the impact of anesthesia on preoperative SSEP can be predicted. Furthermore, the controlled application of sedatives and analgesics allows recording of stable SSEP parameters for intraoperative monitoring purposes. As in uneventful spine surgery pre- to postoperative SSEP are unchanged the latter comparison can be applied as an additional perioperative neuromonitoring procedure to assess the influence of spine surgery or other invasive interventions on spinal cord function.
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Comparative Study
The short-term effect of hippotherapy on spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury.
Assessment of spasticity before and after hippotherapy treatment. ⋯ Hippotherapy significantly reduces spasticity of lower extremities in SCIs.