BACKGROUND Traumatic spinal cord injury remains a serious public health and social problem. Although incidence rates are decreasing in our environment, it is a high cost condition that is associated with great disability. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological and demographic characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury and to analyse its epidemiological changes. M...

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a well-known hydroxyl radical scavenger, which is readily absorbed through biological membranes. We studied the effects of locally applied DMSO on acute spinal cord injury. Either 10% DMSO in saline (n=8) or saline alone (n=7) was applied directly to the exposed cervical spinal cord of rats 1 hour after clip compression injury of 26 g force for 1 minute. The outcome...

The human circadian timing system regulates the temporal organization of several endocrine functions, including the production of melatonin (via a neural pathway that includes the spinal cord), TSH, and cortisol. In traumatic spinal cord injury, afferent and efferent circuits that influence the basal production of these hormones may be disrupted. We studied five subjects with chronic spinal cor...

Women diagnosed with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) at T10 or above report vaginal-cervical perceptual awareness. To test whether the Vagus nerves, which bypass the spinal cord, provide the afferent pathway for this response, we hypothesized that the Nucleus Tractus Solitarii (NTS) region of the medulla oblongata, to which the Vagus nerves project, is activated by vaginal-cervical self-stimu...

The impact of traumatic spinal cord injury on structural integrity, cortical reorganization and ensuing disability is variable and may depend on a dynamic interaction between the severity of local damage and the capacity of the brain for plastic reorganization. We investigated trauma-induced anatomical changes in the spinal cord and brain, and explored their relationship to functional changes i...

MR imaging of the cervical spine is valuable for assessing traumatic injuries to the spinal cord and bony ligamentous structures. MR is also useful for detecting such long-term complications of spinal cord injury as syrinx, arachnoid cyst, cord adhesion, and persistent mechanical impingement on the spinal cord or spinal nerve roots. Treatment of cervical spine injuries that are mechanically uns...

[Purpose] The present study investigated the physical and mental effects of plant factory work in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury and the use of a newly developed agricultural working environment. [Subjects] Six males with C5-C8 spinal cord injuries and 10 healthy volunteers participated. [Methods] Plant factory work involved three simulated repetitive tasks: sowing, transplantatio...

A lateral hemisection injury of the cervical spinal cord results in Brown-Séquard syndrome in humans and rats. The hands/forelimbs on the injured side are rendered permanently impaired, but the legs/hindlimbs recover locomotor functions. This is accompanied by increased use of the forelimb on the uninjured side. Nothing is known about the cortical circuits that correspond to these behavioral ad...

PURPOSE Clinical features and outcomes of 43 patients at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama Rosai Hospital, Okayama, were studied prospectively. These patients were not found to have radiographic abnormalities but magnetic resonance images showed acute cervical spinal cord trauma at the C3-4 disc level. METHODS Magnetic resonance images were analysed at presentation (immediately a...