Study design: An epidemiological study conducted all over the country.Objective: The present retrospective study was conducted to survey the new traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) cases during 1992 in Turkey. Setting: Intensive care units, emergency services and departments of orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and rehabilitation of state hospitals, rehabilitation centers, military and university hospitals. Methods: Postal questionnaires were used for data collection and the records from medical institutes nation-wide were reviewed for the analysis of the epidemiological factors. Results: Five hundred and eighty-one new traumatic SCI cases were reported in 1992. The annual incidence was found to be 12.7 per million population. Male to female ratio was 2.5 : 1 and the average age at injury was 35.5+15.1 (35.4+14.8 for males and 35.9+16.0 for females). The most common cause of injury was motor vehicle accidents (48.8%) followed by falls (36.5%), stab wounds (3.3%), gunshot injuries (1.9%) and injuries from diving (1.2%). One hundred and eighty-seven patients (32.18%) were tetraplegic and 394 patients (67.8%) were paraplegic. The most common level of injury was C5 among tetraplegics and T12 among paraplegics. The most prevalent associated injury was head trauma followed by extremity fractures. Severe head trauma resulting in death may obscure the real incidence of SCI and may cause underreporting of cases in epidemiological studies. Conclusion: Considering that motor vehicle accidents and falls were found to be the leading causes of traumatic SCI, it was concluded that the prevention measures should be focused mainly on these in order to reduce the frequency of SCI in Turkey. Spinal Cord (2000) 38, 697 ± 701

This study revealed that patients with lumbar disc herniation had the asymmetry and sagittalization of facet joints, and these alterations were more evident in the taller patients.

In 1994, a retrospective study of new cases of traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) was conducted in all the hospitals in Southeast Turkey: 75 new traumatic SCI were identi®ed. The estimated annual incidence was 16.9 per million population. The male/female ratio was 5.8/1. The mean age was 31.3, being 31.25 for male patients and 31.36 for female patients. 70.7% of all patients were under the age of 40. The major causes of SCI were falls (37.3%) and gunshot wounds (29.3%), followed by car accidents (25.3%), and stab wounds (1.3%). Thirty one patients (41.3%) were tetraplegic and 44 (58.7%) paraplegic. In tetraplegic patients the commonest level was C5, in those with paraplegia L1. The commonest associated injury was head trauma followed by fractures of the extremity(ies). Severe head trauma, being a major cause of death, may have obscured the actual incidence of SCI. Most of gunshot injured SCI patients were young soldiers ®ghting against the rebels. As there was no available data for the rebels with SCI, the actual incidence of SCI in Southeast (SE)Turkey should be higher than that found in this study.

Functional independence measure (FIM) is becoming widely used for all aspects of disabling diseases including spinal cord injury (SCI). It is recommended that it is rated by trained clinicians familiar with the patients. We aimed to compare the ratings of those patients who were questioned with those who were observed in a simulated environment.Fifty patients with SCI were included in the study. They were all FIM rated by the same clinician, ®rst by questioning and then by observation. Although observational rating took much more time than questioning there was a very strong correlation between these two dierent rating methods.We can conclude that questioning SCI patients could be used as a valuable and quick way to assess the functional level of such patients. Although this does not exclude observational scoring that was generally higher and more motivational for the patient.

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IntroductionOsteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disorder that increases the risk of fractures due to reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone (1, 2). It is primarily known to affect women because of their increased risk of developing OP (due to menopause, low bone mass, and longer lifetime). However, the occurrence of fractures in men with recently increasing life expectancy has demonstrated that OP is an important public health concern for both genders. Although there are insufficient data on male OP in our country, OP was identified in 2 million men in America according to 2001-2002 data (3). In developed countries, OP prevalence is 13% among men older than 50 years, but it increases to about 70% among men aged more than 80 years (4). Despite the lower prevalence of OP among men than among women, the mortality associated with osteoporotic fractures is higher in advanced-aged men (5, 6). On the other hand, the incidence of hip fractures and prevalence of vertebral fractures in elderly men are half of those in women (7,8).Male OP is divided into two groups. Age-related or idiopathic OP is classified as primary OP, while an underlying cause-induced OP is classified as secondary OP (7). Although primary or idiopathic OP is reported very often in the literature, secondary etiological factors are also frequently encountered as a cause of male OP.Recently, the importance of male OP in terms of morbidity and mortality has been recognized, and thus, studies on this issue are increasing. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the frequency of the diagnosis of male OP among patients who attended our outpatient clinic and the relationship between their ages, diagnoses, and OP classifications of male OP patients and the occurrence of osteoporotic fractures. MethodsThe files of male OP patients who attended the OP outpatient clinics of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR), İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine, TurDistribution of Male Osteoporosis Patients According to Age, Classification, and Fracture Objective: For years, osteoporosis has been recognized as a disease affecting women. However, in recent years, it has been found that male osteoporosis is not as rare as it was thought to be, and fractures in men are an important public health problem. Therefore, we aimed to present the distribution of male osteoporosis patients according to their ages and diagnosis. Methods:We retrospectively reviewed the data of male osteoporosis patients who were admitted to physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics within a duration of one year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) aging criteria, patients were divided into middle-aged (45-59 years), old (60-74 years), elderly (75-89 years), and senile (>90 year) groups. Male osteoporosis was classified as primary and secondary, and the history of fractures was divided as with or without fractures. Patients were analyzed according to these classifications and age groups. Results:Among the osteoporosis patients, 1,14...

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