In a previous study using male rats, a correlation was found between the development of "at-level" allodynia in T6-7 dermatomes following severe T8 spinal contusion injury and the sparing of some myelinated axons within the core of the lesion epicenter. To further test our hypothesis that this sparing is important for the expression of allodynia and the supraspinal plasticity that ensues, an in...

F a c u l t y M e n t o r Michelle Tu’s interest in stem cells began when she read about the promise of stem cell research; she was amazed by their unique features, especially their ability to differentiate into any cell type in the body. She was drawn to Professor Keirstead’s study on humanembryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in spinal cord injury. Michelle describes he...

The timing of decompressive craniectomy for the treatment of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a widely discussed clinical issue. Although we showed recently that early decompression is beneficial following experimental TBI, it remains unclear to what degree decompression craniectomy reduces secondary brain damage and if craniectomy is still beneficial ...

The objective of this study was to compare the long-term histological and behavioral outcomes after spinal cord injury (SCI) induced by one of three distinct biomechanical mechanisms: dislocation, contusion, and distraction. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to incur a traumatic cervical SCI by one of these three clinically relevant mechanisms. The injured cervical spines were sur...

A young 15 year old boy was brought to the emergency department of ophthalmology after he have had an acute accident during a tennis game , the ball accidently heat him in her left eye resulting palpebral edema and decreased visual acuity. In the emergency room, the ophthalmic exam found visual acuity in the left eye at 1/20 and loss of near acuity, 10/10 in the right eye and anterior segment u...

OBJECTIVE To describe the use of initial electrocardiogram (ECG), follow-up ECG or equivalent monitoring, and troponin I in patients presenting with sternal fracture who are assessed in emergency departments or by front-line physicians. DESIGN Multicentre descriptive retrospective study. SETTING Two traumatology teaching centres in Quebec city, Que. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-four trauma patients...

INTRODUCTION Application of chest radiography for all multiple trauma patients is associated with a significant increase in total costs, exposure to radiation, and overcrowding of the emergency department. Ultrasound has been introduced as an alternative diagnostic tool in this regard. The aim of the present study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy of chest ultrasonography and radiography in...

BACKGROUND Blunt chest trauma can cause severe acute pulmonary dysfunction due to hemo/pneumothorax, rib fractures and lung contusion. OBJECTIVES To study the long-term effects on lung function tests after patients' recovery from severe chest trauma. METHODS We investigated the outcome and lung function tests in 13 patients with severe blunt chest trauma and lung contusion. RESULTS The st...

A 45 year old farmer was kicked in the chest by a horse. In the days following the injury episodic breathlessness developed and he was admitted to hospital with right ventricular failure and pulmonary emboli. Echocardiography showed global right ventricular dysfunction but a right ventricular mural thrombus, the likely source of the pulmonary emboli, was not seen. He gradually recovered after t...

Myocardial contusion is an infrequent, but sometimes serious complication in patients who experienced deceleration (blunt) trauma. We investigated the assessment of the new cardiac markers troponin I (cTnI) and troponin T (cTnT) in relation to the conventional CKMB-activity, the CKMB-activity/CK-total ratio, CKMB-mass and the CKMB-mass/CK-total ratio for the detection of myocardial contusion in...