Highlights
- •Structural magnetic resonance imaging of spinal cord damage is negatively correlated with walking output in people with motor incomplete spinal cord injury.
- •Lateral corticospinal tract damage is related to specific lower extremity motor deficits, in an ipsilesional manner, in these participants.
Abstract
Objective
To investigate the relationship between spinal cord damage and specific motor function
in participants with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).
Design
Single-blinded, cross-sectional study design.
Setting
University setting research laboratory.
Participants
Individuals with chronic cervical iSCI (N=14; 1 woman, 13 men; average age ± SD, 43±12y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of spinal cord damage was performed
in 14 participants with iSCI. Each participant's damage was processed for total damage
quantification, lateral corticospinal tract (LCST) and gracile fasciculus (GF) analysis.
Plantarflexion and knee extension were quantified using an isokinetic dynamometer.
Walking ability was assessed using a 6-minute walk test.
Results
Total damage was correlated with plantarflexion, knee extension, and distance walked
in 6 minutes. Right LCST damage was correlated with right plantarflexion and right
knee extension, while left LCST damage was correlated with left-sided measures. Right
and left GF damage was not correlated with the motor output measures.
Conclusions
MRI measures of spinal cord damage were correlated to motor function, and this measure
appears to have spatial specificity to descending tracts, which may offer prognostic
value after SCI.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
GF (gracile fasciculus), iSCI (incomplete spinal cord injury), LCST (lateral corticospinal tract), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), 3D (3-dimensional), WM (white matter)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 26, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH award no. 1 R01HD079076-01A1; the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; the Foundation for Physical Therapy Promotion of Doctoral Studies programs; and the Interdisciplinary Research Training in Pain and Substance Use Disorders (grant no. T32DA035165) funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Disclosures: J.M.E. and T.B.P. have the following relevant financial activities outside the submitted work: board membership (Advisory Member of the Board of Directors for the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy), consultancy and other (Pain ID LLC), and payment for lectures (North American Spine Society webinar; Northern California Kaiser Permanente Orthopaedic in Physical Therapy Residency/Fellowship; and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Neurology Grand Rounds). The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
