BackgroundQuadriplegia is a severe, catastrophic injury that predominantly affects people early in life, resulting in lifelong physical disability. Obstructive sleep apnoea is a direct consequence of quadriplegia and is associated with neurocognitive deficits, sleepiness and reduced quality of life. The usual treatment for sleep apnoea is nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP); however, this is poorly tolerated in quadriplegia. To encourage patients to use this therapy, we have to demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the inconvenience. We therefore propose a prospective, multinational randomized controlled trial of three months of CPAP for obstructive sleep apnoea after acute quadriplegia.Methods/designSpecialist spinal cord injury centres across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada will recruit medically stable individuals who have sustained a (new) traumatic quadriplegia (complete or incomplete second cervical to first thoracic level lesions). Participants will be screened for obstructive sleep apnoea using full, portable sleep studies. Those with an apnoea hypopnoea index greater than 10 per hour will proceed to an initial three-night trial of CPAP. Those who can tolerate CPAP for at least 4 hours on at least one night of the initial trial will be randomized to either usual care or a 3-month period of auto-titrating CPAP. The primary hypothesis is that nocturnal CPAP will improve neuropsychological functioning more than usual care alone. The secondary hypothesis is that the magnitude of improvement of neuropsychological function will be predicted by the severity of baseline sleepiness measures, sleep fragmentation and sleep apnoea. Neuropsychological tests and full polysomnography will be performed at baseline and 3 months with interim measures of sleepiness and symptoms of autonomic dysfunction measured weekly. Spirometry will be performed monthly. Neuropsychological tests will be administered by blinded assessors. Recruitment commenced in July 2009.DiscussionThe results of this trial will demonstrate the effect of nocturnal CPAP treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea in acute quadriplegia. If CPAP can improve neurocognitive function after injury, it is likely that rehabilitation and subsequent community participation will be substantially improved for this group of predominantly young and severely physically disabled people.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12605000799651
Study design: Retrospective study based on a reference paper. Neurological outcome in patients who were managed surgically with closed traumatic cervical spine injury was evaluated using the ASIA motor scoring system and Frankel grading. Objectives: To assess the accuracy of motor charting and Frankel grading as tools to evaluate neurological outcome in closed traumatic cervical spine injury, and also to evaluate how the surgically treated patients fared in their neurological recovery by measurement tools as in the reference paper. Setting: National Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, UK. Method: Fifty-seven patients were admitted within 2 days of the injury with closed traumatic cervical spine injuries (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004). Thirty-seven (65%) met the inclusion criteria as per the referenced paper, that is, were treated surgically, were Frankel grade B and above and had at least 12 months follow up. The remaining 20 patients were not included as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. The breakdown of the 20 patients is given in Table 1. The mean recovery percentage (MRP) and mean deficit percentage (MDP) were calculated as per the referenced paper. Results: An evaluation of 37 patients surgically treated, who had follow up of at least 12 months, showed that preservation of pin prick below the level of lesion, and preservation of anal tone and perianal sensation were good prognostic indicators. There was no correlation between degree of encroachment of canal or the degree of kyphosis to MDP or MRP. The mean time from injury to mobilization was 7.6 days in 25 out of 37 patients. Twelve of the 37 patients had prolonged immobilization because of ITU stay or because they were initially treated conservatively. Three out of the 37 patients developed DVT/PE. Mean hospital stay was 6.4 months. Conclusion: The neurological outcome in surgically treated patients is comparable to the conservatively treated patients. The Frankel grading and ASIA motor charting combined is a powerful tool in assessing the neurological outcome in closed traumatic cervical spinal injured patients. Until now there has been no evidence to suggest that the obvious advantages of surgical management of closed cervical spine injuries (better alignment, easier manual handling and early mobilization) is traded for poorer neurological outcome.
Study design: Single-centre, prospective (comparative cohort) clinical study, with ethical approval and patient consent. Objective: Confirmation of vertebral fracture union can pose significant challenges for clinicians in the management of spinal cord injury and in the decisions around patient mobilization. Bony union is usually assessed with computed tomography (CT). This study hypothesizes that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can identify vertebral bone union. Setting: A major spinal injuries unit in the United Kingdom. Method: Patients underwent CT and MRI at 12 weeks post-injury, if conservatively managed, or 12 weeks post-fixation. With CT as the gold standard, the MRI scans were reviewed blind to the CT result and indicators for fracture healing were compared. Results: A total of 35 patients with 55 fractures were imaged. Comparison of CT and MRI showed sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 100% and positive predictive value of 100% for fracture union imaged with MRI using CT as the gold standard. Conclusion: MRI correlates well with CT in identifying vertebral fracture union and non-union. We suggest that where imaging is indicated in the assessment of vertebral body fracture healing MRI can be used routinely with CT reserved for problematic or inconclusive cases. IntroductionComputed tomography (CT) provides a basis for highly accurate and precise assessment of the three-dimensional structural parameters of bone. However, metallic artefacts can produce image distortions and the repeated use of CT also causes a cumulative radiation dose effect for the patient. Many patients with spinal injuries are young and the dose implications are greater in this population than in the older age group.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to evaluate for occult fractures and the presence of non-union. Fracture lines, continuity of marrow signal and the absence of bone marrow oedema as evidenced by signal change on MRI may indicate progression of fracture healing.Vertebral union after fractures or incorporation of graft can be particularly difficult to assess. Altered sensation causes further limitation in clinical assessment. We hypothesize that MRI can contribute significantly to this assessment by observing absence of increased T2-weighted signal with union and bridging across the fracture site on T1-weighted images. A diagnostic method that does not use ionizing radiation would be of particular value. BackgroundBone undergoes constant remodelling influenced by chemical, mechanical, cellular and pathological mechanisms.
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