BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Magnetic resonance (MR) findings in acute spinal-cord ischemia can be summarized as focal cord enlargement and hyperintensities on T2-weighted images and gadolinium enhancement, especially of the central gray matter. However, in analogy with acute brain ischemia, it is to be expected that the findings of MR imaging (MRI) may be normal in the first hours after symptom onse...

AIM A rat model of spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion was conducted and the serum cytokine levels and histopathological changes were assessed. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into four experimental groups. Group-A (the sham operated rats) and group-B (the spinal ischemia/reperfusion group) were sacrificed at 24 hours postoperatively while group-C (the sha...

Ischemic tolerance is an endogenous neuroprotective phenomenon induced by sublethal ischemia. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), the first discovered form of ischemic tolerance, is widely seen in many species and in various organs including the brain and the spinal cord. Ischemic tolerance of the spinal cord is less familiar among neurosurgeons, although it has been reported from the viewpoint of ...

BACKGROUND Rapid ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been shown to reduce cellular injury after subsequent cardiac and cerebral ischemia. However, the data on rapid IPC of the spinal cord is limited. The authors investigated whether pretreatment with sublethal ischemia of spinal cord can attenuate neuronal injury after spinal cord ischemia in rabbits. METHODS Forty-seven male New Zealand white...

INTRODUCTION Scant data are available regarding ischemic insult to the spinal cord and the responsible blood supply. Therefore, we aimed to investigate a correlation between atherosclerosis of adjacent vessels and spinal cord ischemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS In 20 unembalmed adult cadavers, samples of the vertebral arteries and aorta were removed and the degree of atherosclerosis with subseque...

BACKGROUND It has been shown that transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) into the ischemic brain improves functional outcome. We sought to investigate whether intrathecal injection of MSCs can attenuate neurologic injury of spinal cord ischemia. METHODS Rabbit MSCs were expanded in vitro and were pre-labeled with bromodeoxyuridine. Spinal cord ischemia was induced in rabbits by i...

BACKGROUND Paraplegia can result from operations requiring transient occlusion of the descending thoracic aorta. The present study tested whether inducing hyperthermia in rats before aortic ischemia would be neuroprotective. METHODS Rats were randomly assigned to hyperthermic preconditioning (n = 27) or control (n = 32) groups. Eighteen hours before ischemia, the hyperthermic preconditioned r...

OBJECTIVES Prevention of the development of paraplegia during the repair of the damage caused by descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysms remains an important issue. Therefore, we investigated the protective effect of atorvastatin on ischemia-induced spinal cord injury in a rabbit model. METHOD Thirty-two rabbits were divided into the following four equally sized groups: group I (co...

The incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI) in the US is approximately 12,000 individuals annually, due to various forms of trauma and disease. (1) Previous studies show that increased force on or prolonged compression of the spinal cord results in progressive ischemia, as indicated by a reduction in spinal cord perfusion (3). Diminished flow over a prolonged period of time can cause necrosis and...