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The Natural History of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Using fMRI, MRS and DTI

NCT00790361 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2017-08-28

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Traumatic spinal cord injury is a common injury to the spine and can lead to a clinical syndrome called central cord syndrome (CCS). CCS is an incomplete spinal cord injury where one starts to lose more motor function in the upper rather than lower extremities. It affects a wide range of the population from the young to the old. However, the natural history of CCS is poorly understood.

Research has shown that the injury resulting in CCS might be due to the pinching or compressing of the spinal cord. This creates damage to a part of the spinal cord and creates difficulties in the signal getting through. We believe that we can gain a better understanding of the natural history of incomplete spinal cord injury as well as the recovery process.

It is possible to track many changes in the brain and motor function through a variety of methods. One can track the concentrations of different chemicals (metabolites) by using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), changes in brain activation by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and thread-like nerve fibers in the spine by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In our study we will be detecting differences in brain metabolism and activation of different parts of the brain during specific movement and in the nerve fibers in the brain.

We hypothesize that there will be decreased levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA, a putative marker of neuronal function) and decreased levels of glutamate (the primary excitatory neurotransmitter) in the motor cortex in patients with CCS when compared with controls. Over time, we hypothesize that the normalization of metabolite levels will correlate with the extent of neurologic recovery. We also hypothesize a reorganization of brain activation patterns with time such that patients will show increased volumes of activation in the motor cortex with recovery and that this will correlate with the extent of neurologic outcome. Over time, we predict that there will be normalization of the fibre track anatomy that will correlate with neurological recovery.

Conditions

  • Central Cord Syndrome

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation

    collaborator OTHER

  • London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Neil Duggal, M.D., MSc · London Health Research Institute, London Health Sciences Centre

Eligibility

Min Age
30 Years
Max Age
85 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2009-06-18
Primary Completion
2010-01-31
Completion
2010-01-31

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00790361 on ClinicalTrials.gov