A New Model for Predicting Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury

Aug. 8, 2012 - PRLog -- New Rochelle, NY—For more than 1 million people in the U.S. living with spinal cord injury, the frightening days and weeks following the injury are filled with uncertainty about their potential for recovery and future independence. A new model based on motor scores at admission and early imaging studies may allow clinicians to predict functional outcomes and guide decision-making for therapy and care-giving needs, as described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Neurotrauma website at http://www.liebertpub.com/neu.

The novel prediction model, which combines acute functional measures and evidence of injury on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including swelling and bleeding around the spinal cord, and which was drawn from two large clinical datasets, could help guide treatment decisions, classification of patents for clinical trials, and counseling of patients and families.

Jefferson Wilson, MD, Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, from University of Toronto and Toronto Western Hospital, Canada, and colleagues from the U.S. describe the prediction model and its potential applications in the article “A Clinical Prediction Model for Long-Term Functional Outcome after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Based on Acute Clinical and Imaging Factors.”

“An important goal of medical research is to identify early surrogate markers that could assist treating physicians in determining appropriate therapeutic strategies,” says W. Dalton Dietrich, III, PhD, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami, FL, and Deputy Editor of the Journal. “This article provides important information that could help predict the potential for recovery after SCI and thereby direct treatment options.”

About the Journal
Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 18 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the Official Journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotrauma website at http://www.liebertpub.com/neu.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, Tissue Engineering, and Brain Connectivity. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.