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Background Surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is generally safe and effective. Nonetheless, complications occur in 11% to 38% of patients. Knowledge of important predictors of complications will help clinicians identify high-risk patients and institute prevention and management strategies. Objective To identify clinical and surgical predictors of perioperative complications in CSM patients. Methods Four hundred seventy-nine surgical CSM patients were enrolled in the prospective CSM-International study at 16 sites. A panel of physicians reviewed all adverse events and classified each as related or unrelated to surgery. Univariate analyses were performed to determine differences between patients who experienced a perioperative complication and those who did not. A complication prediction rule was developed using multiple logistic regression. Results Seventy-eight patients experienced 89 perioperative complications (16.25%). On univariate analysis, the major clinical risk factors were ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) (P = .055), number of comorbidities (P = .002), comorbidity score (P = .006), diabetes mellitus (P = .001), and coexisting gastrointestinal (P = .039) and cardiovascular (P = .046) disorders. Patients undergoing a 2-stage surgery (P = .002) and those with a longer operative duration (P = .001) were at greater risk of perioperative complications. A final prediction model consisted of diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96, P = .060), number of comorbidities (OR = 1.20, P = .069), operative duration (OR = 1.07, P = .002), and OPLL (OR = 1.75, P = .040). Conclusion Surgical CSM patients have a higher risk of perioperative complications if they have a greater number of comorbidities, coexisting diabetes mellitus, OPLL, and a longer operative duration. Surgeons can use this information to discuss the risks and benefits of surgery with patients, to plan case-specific preventive strategies, and to ensure appropriate management in the perioperative period. Abbreviations BMI, body mass indexCSM, cervical spondylotic myelopathymJOA, modified Japanese Orthopaedic AssociationOPLL, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

Study design: Cross-sectional survey. Objective: To examine the association between psychological characteristics in self-management and probable depression status in individuals with a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Community-dwelling individuals with traumatic SCI living across Canada. Methods: Individuals with SCI were recruited by email via the Rick Hansen Institute as well as an outpatient hospital spinal clinic. Data were collected by self-report using an online survey. Standardized questionnaires were embedded within a larger survey and included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the short version of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), the Moorong Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and the Pearlin-Schooler Mastery Scale (PMS). Results: Individuals with probable depression (n=25) had lower self-efficacy (67.9 vs 94.2, P

We examined a retrospective, multicenter cohort of adult Fontan patients referred for heart transplant (HT) to assess the impact of comorbidities and combined heart-liver transplant (CHLT) on mortality. All patients at participating institutions with a history of a Fontan-type palliation referred

The optimum management strategy of adult Fontan patients referred for heart transplant (HT) remains unknown. We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of patients referred for HT to determine survivorship and risk factors for adverse outcomes. All patients at participating institutions with a

Background Given the increasing emphasis on the community management of spinal cord injury (SCI), strategies that could be developed and implemented in order to empower and engage individuals with SCI in promoting their health and minimizing the risk of health conditions are required. A self-management program could be one approach to address these complex needs, including secondary complications. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the importance attributed to the components of a self-management program by individuals with traumatic SCI and explore their views/opinions about the delivery of such a program. Methods Individuals with SCI were recruited by email via the Rick Hansen Institute (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) as well as an outpatient hospital spinal clinic. Data were collected by self-report using an on-line survey. Results The final sample size was 99 individuals with traumatic SCI. The components of a self-management program that were rated as “very important” by the greatest proportion of participants included: exercise (n= 53; 53.5%), nutrition (n= 51; 51.5%), pain management (n= 44; 44.4%), information/education on aging with a SCI (n= 42; 42.4%), communicating with health care professionals (n= 40; 40.4%), problem solving (n= 40; 40.4%), transitioning from rehabilitation to the community (n= 40; 40.4%), and confidence (n= 40; 40.4%). Overall, 74.7% (n= 74) of the sample rated the overall importance of the development of a self-management program for individuals with traumatic SCI as “very important” or “important”. Almost 40% (n= 39) of the sample indicated that an internet-based self-management program would be the best delivery format. The highest proportion of participants indicated that the program should have individuals of a similar level of injury (n= 74; 74.7%); having individuals of a similar age (n= 40; 40.4%) was also noted. Over one-quarter of the sample (n= 24) had a depression score consistent with significant symptoms of depression. Conclusions Future research is needed to further evaluate how the views of people with traumatic SCI change over time. Our findings could be used to develop and pilot test a self-management program for individuals with traumatic SCI. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-014-0209-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

IntroductionWhile numerous studies have documented evidence for plasticity of the human brain there is little evidence that the human spinal cord can change after injury. Here, we employ a novel spinal fMRI design where we stimulate normal and abnormal sensory dermatomes in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury and perform a connectivity analysis to understand how spinal networks process information.MethodsSpinal fMRI data was collected at 3 Tesla at two institutions from 38 individuals using the standard SEEP functional MR imaging techniques. Thermal stimulation was applied to four dermatomes in an interleaved timing pattern during each fMRI acquisition. SCI patients were stimulated in dermatomes both above (normal sensation) and below the level of their injury. Sub-group analysis was performed on healthy controls (n = 20), complete SCI (n = 3), incomplete SCI (n = 9) and SCI patients who recovered full function (n = 6).ResultsPatients with chronic incomplete SCI, when stimulated in a dermatome of normal sensation, showed an increased number of active voxels relative to controls (p = 0.025). There was an inverse relationship between the degree of sensory impairment and the number of active voxels in the region of the spinal cord corresponding to that dermatome of abnormal sensation (R(2) = 0.93, pConclusionsIn this work we demonstrate the use of spinal fMRI to investigate changes in spinal processing of somatosensory information in the human spinal cord. We provide evidence for plasticity of the human spinal cord after traumatic injury based on an increase in the average number of active voxels in dermatomes of normal sensation in chronic SCI patients and an increased number of intraspinal connections in incomplete SCI patients relative to healthy controls.

Background Infections are the leading cause of death in the acute phase following spinal cord injury and qualify as independent risk factor for poor neurological outcome (“disease modifying factor”). The enhanced susceptibility for infections is not stringently explained by the increased risk of aspiration in tetraplegic patients, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, or by high-dose methylprednisolone treatment. Experimental and clinical pilot data suggest that spinal cord injury disrupts the balanced interplay between the central nervous system and the immune system. The primary hypothesis is that the Spinal Cord Injury-induced Immune Depression Syndrome (SCI-IDS) is 'neurogenic’ including deactivation of adaptive and innate immunity with decreased HLA-DR expression on monocytes as a key surrogate parameter. Secondary hypotheses are that the Immune Depression Syndrome is i) injury level- and ii) severity-dependent, iii) triggers transient lymphopenia, and iv) causes qualitative functional leukocyte deficits, which may endure the post-acute phase after spinal cord injury. Methods/Design SCIentinel is a prospective, international, multicenter study aiming to recruit about 118 patients with acute spinal cord injury or control patients with acute vertebral fracture without neurological deficits scheduled for spinal surgery. The assessment points are: i)