A man paralyzed in a car accident is making remarkable progress after receiving a stem cell transplant at Froedtert Hospital. Shekar Kurpad, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon, is leading the clinical trial. Read the article. Our Spinal Cord Injury Program provides individualized, comprehensive care to patients with spinal cord injuries and their families. This is a unique, carefully integrated transdisciplinary program. We address patients' physical recovery as well as their psychological health with the goal of helping them resume their lives with as much independence as possible. Between 250,000 and 400,000 people in the United States have spinal cord injuries. Each year, about 11,000 people sustain some degree of paralysis as a result, including more than 200 new injuries in Wisconsin each year. More than half of spinal cord injuries occur in people between the ages of 16 and 30, and the injuries are more prevalent in males than in females. Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of spinal cord injuries (accounting for almost 50 percent), followed by violence, falls and sports injuries. Our team of dedicated specialists includes neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, rehabilitation physicians, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, a recreational therapist, speech therapist, a vocational counselor, dietitians, … Continue reading →

Your ability to control your limbs after spinal cord injury depends on two factors: the place of the injury along your spinal cord and the severity of injury to the spinal cord. The lowest part of your spinal cord that functions normally after injury is referred to as the neurological level of your injury. The severity of the injury is often called "the completeness" and is classified as either of the following: Additionally, paralysis from a spinal cord injury may be referred to as: Your health care team will perform a series of tests to determine the neurological level and completeness of your injury. Spinal cord injuries of any kind may result in one or more of the following signs and symptoms: Emergency signs and symptoms of spinal cord injury after an accident may include: Anyone who experiences significant trauma to his or her head or neck needs immediate medical evaluation for the possibility of a spinal injury. In fact, it's safest to assume that trauma victims have a spinal injury until proven otherwise because: . The rest is here: Spinal cord injury Symptoms - Mayo Clinic … Continue reading →

INTRODUCTION Spinal cord injury has become epidemic in modern society. Despite advances made in the understanding of the pathogenesis and improvements in early recognition and treatment, it remains a devastating event, often producing severe and permanent disability. With a peak incidence in young adults, traumatic spinal cord injury remains a costly problem for society; direct medical expenses accrued over the lifetime of one patient range from 500,000 to 2 million US dollars [1]. This topic reviews acute traumatic spinal cord injury. The anatomy and clinical localization of spinal cord disease, other diseases affecting the spinal cord, and the chronic complications of spinal cord injury are discussed separately. (See "Anatomy and localization of spinal cord disorders" and "Disorders affecting the spinal cord" and "Chronic complications of spinal cord injury and disease".) Issues regarding injury to the vertebral column and ligaments are also discussed separately. (See "Spinal column injuries in adults: Definitions, mechanisms, and radiographs" and "Evaluation and acute management of cervical spinal column injuries in adults" and "Evaluation of thoracic and lumbar spinal column injury".) EPIDEMIOLOGY Most demographic and epidemiological data related to traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in the United States have been collected by the Model Spinal Cord Injury … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV)today announced that it has received approval from the Toronto Western Hospitals Research Ethics Board to enroll patients as part of its cervical spinal cord injury study. Toronto Western Hospital is the first study site for the companys cervical spinal cord injury study and Michael Fehlings, M.D., Ph.D., has been named Principal Investigator at the site. Dr. Fehlings is currently Director of the Spinal Program, part of Toronto Western Hospitals Krembil Neuroscience Centre at the University Health Network, Professor in the Department of Surgery, full member of the Institute of Medical Sciences School of Graduate Studies, a Scholar in the McLaughlin Centre of Molecular Medicine, a Scientist in the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, Director of the University of Toronto Neuroscience Program, Co-Director of the University of Toronto Spine Program, and Krembil Chair in Neural Repair and Regeneration. Dr. Fehlings has published over 725 peer-reviewed articles principally in the area of spinal cord injury and complex spinal surgery. He is also currently the Principal Investigator at the site for InVivos INSPIRE study, which is studying the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold in acute, complete (AIS A) thoracic patients. Dr. … Continue reading →