SummaryThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the respiratory function of spinal cord injuries The severity of the impairment is affected by the level of cord damage and is posturally dependent.

was carried out by a review of the hospital records. During these four years 560 patients with acute spinal cord injury (SCI) were admitted to the hospitals in the city of Taipei. Of these, 123 were inhabitants of Taipei city, showing the annual incidence of SCI in Taipei to be 14·6 per million population. As a result of injury 118 patients were paraparetic, 180 were paraplegic, 117 tetraparetic and 145 were tetraplegic. The average age was 36 years and 2 months and one third were in the 20 to 29 year age group. The male/female ratio was 4.9. The causes of SCI were traffic accidents (44·5%), accidental falls (28·5%), struck by object (14·6%) and sports injury (3·4%). The mortality rate was 6.0%. Respiratory complication was the leading cause of death, accounting for 58% of the total deaths.