Novel developments in MR angiography are reviewed that enable non-invasive clinical imaging of normal and abnormal vessels of the spinal cord. Current fast contrast-enhanced MR techniques are able 1) to visualize vessels supplying or draining the spinal cord and 2) to differentiate spinal cord arteries from veins. The localization of the Adamkiewicz artery, the largest artery supplying the thor...

Spinal cord injury is a debilitating neurological disorder that initiates a cascade of cellular events that result in a period of secondary damage that can last for months after the initial trauma. The ensuing outcome of these prolonged cellular perturbations is the induction of neuronal and glial cell death through excitotoxic mechanisms and subsequent free radical production. We have previous...

Background and purpose - Randomized trials have found that treating spinal burst fractures with reduction and posterior fixation is adequate without the use of bone grafting for definitive fusion. Restitution of intervertebral mobility of such an unfused segment after fracture healing may unload the adjacent parts of the spine and reduce the risk of degeneration of these segments. We used radio...

Bath application of monoamines is a potent method for evoking locomotor activity in neonatal rats and mice. Monoamines also promote functional recovery in adult animals with spinal cord injuries by activating spinal cord networks. However, the mechanisms of their actions on spinal networks are largely unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that monoamines establish rostrocaudal gradie...

HYPOTHESIS Trauma patients with normal motor examination results and normal cervical spine helical computed tomographic (CT) scans with sagittal reconstructions do not have significant cervical spine injury. DESIGN Prospectively collected registry data. SETTING Level II community-based trauma center. PATIENTS All patients admitted to the trauma service from January 1, 1999, to December 31...

UNLABELLED Distracting painful injuries (DPIs) may mask symptoms of spinal injury in blunt trauma victims and form an important element in a decision instrument used to identify individuals who require cervical spine radiography. OBJECTIVE To identify the types and frequencies of injuries that actually act as DPIs among blunt trauma patients undergoing cervical spinal radiography. METHODS T...

Numerous classification systems have been developed over the years to describe thoracolumbar injuries, each with their own benefits and limitations. None of these systems have been accepted however, as a universal, comprehensive system to classify these injuries. The AOSpine Thoracolumbar Injury Classification System has recently been developed in order to overcome some of the limitations of pr...

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY A prospective cohort study evaluates the functional and radiological outcome of thoracolumbar spine fractures treated either with open or percutaneous dorsal instrumentation. In recent years, several studies advocate percutaneous stabilization of spinal fractures in patients without neurological deficits. However, it is still debated whether percutaneous stabilization is su...

Background: Despite a higher prevalence of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) amongst Canadian Indigenous peoples, there is paucity studies focused on TSCI. We present the first Canada-wide study comparing TSCI and non-Indigenous peoples. Methods: This retrospective analysis prospectively-collected data from Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) 2004-2019. divided participants into ...